Agenda Report
Fullerton City Council
MEETING DATE: March 1, 2022
TO: CITY COUNCIL / SUCCESSOR AGENCY
SUBMITTED BY: jeffrey W. collier, ACTING City Manager
PREPARED BY: ROBERT DUNN, CHIEF OF POLICE
SUBJECT: POLICE TOWING SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH PACIFIC TOWING
SUMMARY
Consideration of amendment to extend the tow franchise agreement with Pacific Towing Inc. for police towing services.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize City Manager to execute and administer an amendment to the Non-Exclusive Franchise Agreement for Police Towing Services with Pacific Towing Inc. to extend the term of the Agreement through June 30, 2025.
PRIORITY POLICY STATEMENT
This item matches the following Priority Policy Statement:
Public Safety.
FISCAL IMPACT
No fiscal impact.
DISCUSSION
Background
The City released Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 4338 for police towing services in November 2019. Anaheim Fullerton Towing, F M G, Inc. d.b.a. Hadley Tow, Pacific Towing Inc. and Veterans Towing submitted proposals in response to the RFP.
The Police Department conducted a thorough review process including review of applicants’ proposals, background investigations and inspections of facilities and vehicles. On June 16, 2020, the Police Department recommended that City Council select Anaheim Fullerton Towing as the City’s sole tow provider.
At the June 16, 2020 City Council meeting, City Council awarded a tow franchise agreement to Anaheim Fullerton Towing for an initial term of five years, with the option for the City to extend the term for one additional two-year period. City Council also directed the Police Department to allow F M G, Inc. d.b.a. Hadley Tow (“Hadley Tow”) and Pacific Towing Inc. (“Pacific Towing”) to have their vehicles and facilities re-inspected by the Police Department within six months.
Pursuant to City Council direction, Police Department staff conducted re-inspections of Pacific Towing’s and Hadley Tow’s facilities and vehicles in October and November 2020. The Police Department provided a report at the December 15, 2020 City Council meeting regarding the results of the re-inspections outlining deficiencies of both providers.
At the December 15, 2020 City Council meeting, City Council directed staff to provide Pacific Towing a six-month “trial” period, during which time the City expected Pacific Towing to correct the deficiencies identified by the Police Department. Due to Hadley Tow’s suspension status with the California Highway Patrol (CHP), City Council directed staff to permit Hadley Tow to participate in the six-month trial period if the CHP removed Hadley Tow from the suspension list during that period. The CHP did not remove Hadley Tow from the suspension list during the six-month trial period. Therefore, the City did not enter into an agreement with Hadley Tow.
Based on City Council’s direction, the City and Pacific Towing entered into a tow franchise agreement dated January 18, 2021 for a six-month term, ending July 17, 2021. The City and Pacific Towing extended the term for one month through an amendment dated July 16, 2021, to allow staff to conduct an additional inspection of Pacific Towing’s facility and to seek City Council direction regarding whether to extend the agreement. City Council directed staff to extend the term of the agreement for six months on August 3, 2021. On August 16, 2021, the City and Pacific Towing extended the term through February 17, 2022. On February 10, 2022, the City and Pacific Towing extended the term for one additional month to allow staff to seek City Council direction regarding whether to further extend the term.
Activity During Six-Month Extension Period
Facility Requirements
Pursuant to the Police Department’s Tow Policy Guidelines and Requirements (“Tow Policy”), tow facilities must contain adequate open storage space to accommodate a minimum of 100 stored, impounded and disabled vehicles resulting from Police Department calls for towing services. In addition, facilities must contain adequate space for storage of two 80-foot tractor-trailer combination trucks. Tow operators may have more than one lot to meet the storage requirements. All storage lots must be within a five-mile radius of Fullerton City Hall.
During prior inspections, Police Department staff determined that Pacific Towing’s storage yard was not large enough to accommodate 100 vehicles stored by the Police Department partly because Pacific Towing had tow service contracts with three other law enforcement agencies. Staff believed Pacific Towing would have difficulty complying with the 100-vehicle storage requirement due to the other contracts and the requirement to have adequate space to store two 80-foot tractor-trailer trucks.
Police Department staff conducted an inspection of Pacific Towing’s facility located at 2840 East Coronado Street Anaheim, CA on December 28, 2021. Staff determined that Pacific Towing met and, in some areas, exceeded the requirements set forth in the Municipal Code and the Tow Policy. Staff also determined that Pacific Towing had corrected the storage issue by storing other law enforcement agencies’ vehicles at their secondary yard, located at 391 East Commercial Street in Anaheim, to free up more space at the Coronado yard for vehicles towed on behalf of the Police Department. Attachment 3 contains the Facility Inspection Report. Attachment 4 includes a letter from Pacific Towing outlining their intent to store vehicles on behalf of the Police Department at their primary yard.
Driver Licensing Requirements
Section 1 of the Driver Licensing requirements of the Tow Policy requires that the Class A licenses be endorsed to allow operations of special vehicle configurations and/or special cargoes. Tow truck drivers must have the proper class of license and endorsement(s) for vehicle and cargo transported as shown in the following table:
VEHICLE TYPE OR CARGO
CLASS LICENSE
ENDORSE/CODE
Pulling more than one trailer
A
T
Transporting passenger for hire
A or B
P
Tank vehicle
A or B
N
Hazardous materials
A, B or C
H
Tank vehicle with hazardous materials
A, B or C
X
During previous inspections, Pacific Towing lacked Class A-licensed tow truck drivers with the proper endorsements. During the December 28, 2021 inspection, staff asked Mr. Feghali the progress he had made in obtaining more Class A tow truck drivers. Mr. Feghali stated he and another employee at the company have Class A driver’s licenses. Mr. Feghali indicated that the other Class A licensed driver had recently obtained the necessary endorsements to tow special vehicle configurations such as doubles, triples, haz-mat vehicles and tank vehicles. He said he currently has two other drivers in the process of obtaining their Class A driver’s licenses and that he continually searches for new drivers to hire with Class A drivers licenses and the proper endorsements. Staff believes Pacific Towing has demonstrated persistence in its effort to obtain more Class A tow truck drivers with the appropriate qualifications.
Because Pacific Towing has corrected all previously identified deficiencies, staff recommends that City Council authorize the City Manager to execute an amendment to the tow franchise agreement to extend the term of the agreement through June 30, 2025, with the option to extend the term for one additional two-year period. If approved, the term of the agreement with Pacific Towing will mirror the term of the City’s agreement with Anaheim Fullerton Towing.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 – Presentation
Attachment 2 – Proposed Agreement Amendment
Attachment 4 – Facility Inspection Report
Attachment 4 – Letter from Pacific Towing
Pacific Towing Agreement
March 1, 2022 – Page 1