City nets thousands from tows

LYNN – City street parking bans like the one triggered by Wednesday’s snowstorm set in motion a cash-only towing operation that can cost drivers money days after the snow has stopped falling.Ignoring the ban costs drivers $155 under a rate schedule Assistant City Parking Director Robert Stilian said is set by the state Department of Public Utilities.The charges include a $90 tow fee, a $5 fuel fee and two other fees – $25 paid to the city and a $35 storage charge drivers continue to pay for every day they leave their vehicle in the city Federal Street tow lot.Stilian said 269 vehicles were towed during Wednesday’s parking ban, generating $6,725 for the city. The towing also generated complaints: Stilian held five hearings on Thursday requested by drivers complaining their cars were towed from their streets to the lot in the city’s center.”One guy said he doesn’t have the money to get his car out. He asked the city to help, but I said I didn’t have money to do that,” Stilian said.Although they order towing once a parking ban is declared, city officials play a limited role in the towing operation.Four firms – Fleming’s Towing, JME, Bill Woods and G/J Towing – conduct snow-ban-ordered towing and tow abandoned vehicles off local streets year-round. Known collectively as the Lynn Towing Association, the four firms have a contract with the city through April 2015.Edward Fleming said certain city neighborhoods, including Sagamore Hill and the Highlands, see more cars towed than other areas – in part, Stilian said, because city towing protocol calls for hilly, steep streets to be car-free along with main roads.From the tow operator’s viewpoint, Fleming said a cash-only towing operation that includes a fuel charge makes sense. He said each tow takes roughly an hour to perform, including time required to hook up the vehicle and haul it to Federal Street.Fleming said allowing drivers to pay tow fees by checks or credit cards exposes tow companies to bounced checks and angry drivers who call their bank or credit card company to cancel the check or the card.”There are too many problems with it,” he said.Stilian said the city receives written verification of tows made by the association during parking bans through $50 parking tickets slapped on windshields prior to towing and a handwritten list prepared by the association. The list includes the towed vehicle’s registration, color, the address the vehicle was towed from and the type of car towed.”They keep records of every vehicle they take,” said Parking Department executive assistant Mary Wright.After drivers pay to pick up their vehicle in the Federal Street tow lot, tow employees give them written receipts for the charges.”You can go back to the company if you have any questions,” Stilian said.