MLPD, towing companies strike deal

Both sides say they are satisfied with accord

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Police Department and the owners of local towing companies have agreed on a one-year deal that solves the question of handling the tows throughout the city.

With the new deal, a rotation has been established among the towing companies to handle every type of towing, from accidents and impounds to abandoned vehicles and hulks. The only exception is the towing of city-owned vehicles, which will go to the lowest bidder.

"Everyone got what they wanted," said Derek Bjork from Vista Towing. "We got what we thought was fair."

Moses Lake Police Chief Dean Mitchell agreed, saying that he was satisfied with the deal.

"I am hoping that it works," he said. "There is a spirit of cooperation among the towing operators, which is good to see."

Both sides stressed the trial nature of this deal. Darin Hendrickson, the owner of Agri-Fix Towing said that is why a one-year contract had been signed, as opposed to a longer agreement.

The towing operators included in this rotation are Vista, Halls, Agri-Fix, Central, Bee Line, and Moses Lake Towing.

The rotation contract was signed last week. The opening of the bids for the city-owned vehicles is scheduled for the upcoming weeks.

Under the new agreement, whenever a vehicle is impounded during an accident or during a citation for driving with suspended licenses, the towing will go to the companies on the rotation. Same for abandoned vehicles, regardless of whether the companies are able to be paid for the towing.

"Everyone who operates a towing (service) has a share of the abandoned vehicles you get no value out of and the ones where people come and pick them up," Bjork said.

That way, he explained, not one company gets all of the paying calls or all of the non-paying calls.

The new rotation contract includes a clause that allows a company that is called to pick up an abandoned vehicle of no compensatory value to get the next call as well. That way, the company will not be getting only the calls for which it will not get paid.

Mitchell said he hoped this new contract would help iron out past issues that put the towing companies and the city at odds.

"I wanted to make sure that all the issues are ironed out," he said.

Among these issues, he mentioned cases of towing companies refusing to pick up hulks, refusing to respond to impound vehicles on parade routes and unwillingness to bill registered owners of the vehicles impounded by the police.

"I have been assured that all the issues have been resolved," Mitchell said. "I expect the towers to fulfill their commitment and I have no reason to believe that they won't."

As far as the notion of the towing companies getting all they wanted in the deal, the MLPD chief said that, to an extent, the towing companies had received it all.

"It's a trade-off," he said. "They are taking abandoned vehicles and hulked vehicles where they seldom recoup any costs."

The city still wants a contracted, exclusive towing service for the vehicles it owns. Instances of city-owned vehicles needing a tow are very few throughout the year.

"The city is welcome to that," said Hendrickson of the city's desire of having an exclusive service for its own vehicles. "I don't think it's necessary for the three or four tows a year."