City agrees to plan for towing abandoned vehicles

The city is finally prepared to begin towing abandoned, unlicensed and inoperable vehicles.

At Tuesday's meeting, the city council approved a year long contract with Affordable Towing for this purpose—although some council members were perturbed that the council was advised to accept the only bid submitted.

The original bid included specifications that the tow company must provide an area to store the vehicles. The only bidder then suggested to the city that Sidney store the vehicles on its own property to save some money. These changes irked some of the other towing companies in the area who did not bid on the project because they didnt have a storage facility.

"It seems like we kind of jumped the gun, we accepted the bid before we had a contract," said councilman Joe Arterburn.

It's a tough situation, said city attorney J. Leef. One company met the bid. It was the only bid and met all the specifications. Then the bidder suggested an alternative storage arrangement as part of negotiations.

Councilman Mark Nienhueser wondered if the tow cost in the contract of $150 was comparable to what the city currently pays for towing.

Sidney Police Chief B.J. Wilkinson answered that typically when a car is towed because of a DUI, the bill is between $125-$175.

"So $150 is very average, and very reasonable according to standard tow rates in town," Wilkinson said.

Nienhueser commented that even though this contract turned out differently than intended, it worked out well.

"I think the Chief deserves credit as to what we did," Nienhueser said. "We took an opportunity here and found we can furnish the space for no cost to the city."

The only expense the city will incur is a fence to surround the area where the cars will be stored.

"The city will be able to recoup some or a lot of the expenses," Nienhueser said.

The final deal is smarter than the original plan anyway, he said.

"We aren't gonna make enough to reduce the property mills but we are gonna recoup our costs and clean up the city," Nienhueser added.

Wilkinson echoed Nienhueser's positivity.

"We created a number of winnable situations in this," Wilkinson said.

The police are prepared to start towing this week and already have a list of six vehicles to start the process.

Wilkinson predicted that voluntary compliance would take place within six weeks.

Owners whose vehicles are towed will be responsible for paying the tow bill, if they pick up the vehicle as well as a $5 per day storage fee to the city.

Mayor Wendall Gaston appreciated the inclusion of a daily storage fee.

"I thought that was really good that it's spelled out," Gaston said.

Council members were pleased that the contract made it clear that Affordable Towing must stay in compliance with city code in order to maintain the contract.