After several months of a fact-finding mission spearheaded by Chairman of the Wrecker Board Bill Glascock, action is being taken to amend the Chattanooga Wrecker Code. Mr. Glascock has visited similar sized cities around Tennessee and held numerous meetings with Chattanooga Police Officer and Wrecker Inspector John Collins, Board Member Ron Smith, Attorney Melinda Foster, and others including owners of various towing businesses for varying opinions of the tow truck business in Chattanooga.
A motion passed at the Wrecker Board meeting Thursday to hold a special meeting to tackle the problems that have been recognized. It has been set for Thursday, Dec. 2, from 11 a.m.- noon to discuss revisions to the city’s ordinance. The meeting will be advertised so those interested will have notification. The purpose will be to set the ground rules and to start discussion about the problems that the board would like to solve.
Some of the issues include the rates that towing businesses are allowed to charge for their services and the possibility of creating a city run centralized impound lot. Currently, each tow truck business has their own storage lots and some are in locations where the public does not feel safe. The centralized lot would benefit Chattanooga, said Officer Collins, by making a towed car easier to find. Currently, he said towing companies are not required to notify insurance companies they have a vehicle for 10 days and can store the cars during that time.
The central lot would also make it safe for people to pick up their cars, and prices for storage would be stable, said Officer Collins. He said that currently, tow truck businesses require a cash payment to get a car out of their lots and he said that this can no longer be a cash business. Most people do not carry or have that amount of cash and it is a problem when the businesses do not accept checks or credit cards. Cards are the best option, he said because people have been known to cancel payment on their checks after they have their cars back.
Another issue that will be discussed is the necessity that all tow trucks have all the equipment that they need. A recent problem has emerged with crashes involving electric vehicles. Captain Chuck Hartung with the Chattanooga Fire Department told the board that if a battery in a wrecked electric vehicle catches fire, it would take 40,000 gallons of water to extinguish the blaze. And in storage the vehicle must be isolated no less than 72 hours because of the possibility that it might re-ignite. The lots or centralized lot will need to figure out how to tow the car and isolate it for that amount of time, he said.
The tow truck businesses will be asked to choose a representative from each of the six districts to participate in the special meeting, which will be to start the discussions. The Wrecker Board can only make recommendations and pass them to the Mayor and City Council who will ultimately vote on the revisions.