County working on new wrecker service ordinance
A new ordinance governing how wrecker services can operate in Polk County will be up for consideration in coming months following a look by the ordinance review committee.
Right now, there’s no local legislation in place on how towing companies operate within Polk County, only having to follow Georgia State Patrol’s regulations and keeping up with their business license.
So essentially, a wrecker service currently can charge whatever price they wish to when a customer needs their service on the side of the road, or vehicles collide and need to be taken off the road.
County manager Matt Denton said he was asked to look into the matter, and gave copies of the City of Rome’s ordinance for the public safety committee to look over and consider
Within the City of Rome’s ordinance are rules and regulations governing how much wrecker services can charge for certain services, their required licensing, insurance and inspection process, and how they are included on a list of services used in rotation. It also gives a list of procedures wrecker services have to follow, and their job duties once they are at a wreck scene defining what they are responsible for in terms of clean-up once cars are moved out of the way.
Since there’s no ordinance in place, towing companies get to set their own practices and rates for service, which varies from company to company.
Right now, Polk County operates under two different lists depending on which law enforcement agency shows up.
Polk County Police Chief Kenny Dodd explained that when Georgia State Patrol is called to the scene of a wreck, they have a list of towing companies who they call on a rotating basis, meaning that at any given time they might call seven differ- ent services in a day.
Dodd said the Polk County 911 list mirrors that of the Georgia State Patrol. The difference is in how companies are called into action.
Instead of rotating based off of each call that comes into 911, they keep one company on call on each side of Polk County. A dividing line at the Cowboy’s service station on Highway 278 acts as the boundary between east and west, so two different companies get calls throughout the week.
Commissioner Jennifer Hulsey said her hopes were that the ordinance would level the playing field in Polk County not just for the companies, but also for local residents who pay the cost to get towed.
“The biggest thing is the cost to the individual is all the same, and no one feels like their being gouged,” Commissioner Jennifer Hulsey said.
Denton also pointed out how the ordinance took shape was ultimately up to the committee members.
“Don’t have to adopt everything, you can pick and choose what parts you’re interested in,” he said.
Denton said that he forwarded it along to the ordinance review committee to look over and come up with language tailored to Polk County.