Safety Committee 01-09-12 Minutes.pdf - Streetsboro

THE CITY OF STREETSBORO, OHIO
SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Monday, January 9, 2012
This Safety Committee Meeting was called to order on Monday, January 9, 2012 at 7:41 p.m. by
Chuck Kocisko, Chairman.
PRESENT: Chuck Kocisko, Tim Claypoole, Bridget Pavlick, Regis Faivre, John Ruediger, Julie
Field, Julie Sanders
ABSENT: None.
ALSO PRESENT: Glenn Broska, Mayor
Dave Maistros, Law Director
Roy Mosley, Police Chief
Robert Reinholz, Fire Chief
Ted Gordon, Finance Director
Bruce Terrell, Engineering Director
Bill Miller, Service Director
Jeff Pritchard, Planning Director
Katie Kloetzly, Senior Citizen Services Director
Greg Mytinger, Parks and Recreation Director
John Kuklisin, Water Superintendent
Caroline Kremer, Clerk of Council
Disposition of Minutes
MOTION: TO ACCEPT THE REGULAR SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
OF SEPTEMBER 12, 2011 AS PRESENTED.
Moved by Mr. Faivre, seconded by Mr. Claypoole. Upon voice vote, motion carried.
Old Business
None.
New Business
Towing
Mr. Kocisko said he had mentioned this to the Mayor prior to the meeting. He said he always tried
to support the local organizations and the Streetsboro businesses and encouraged the City to do the
same. He said Jeff Allen had contacted him recently about the towing services the City was using
and Mr. Kocisko wanted to find out why Mr. Allen’s local business (Gateway Towing) wasn’t being
used exclusively. Mr. Kocisko said it wasn’t an issue with the service of the out of town business, it
was just an issue of finances for the City. Mayor Broska said it was due to competition to keep the

prices lower. If only one business was chosen then they could charge whatever they wanted. He
would even prefer to have more businesses on the towing list; “There was no reason to limit the
towing.” He commented that Interstate Towing and Gateway Towing both did a wonderful job and
were able to back each other up. He added that Interstate could handle huge wrecks (that Gateway
couldn’t), that Interstate paid income tax to Streetsboro, and they rented property in town. He didn’t
think there was anything wrong with having additional people available to use.
Mr. Kocisko said the Streetsboro businesses paid their income taxes to Streetsboro, whereas
Interstate was an out of town business and did not pay taxes to Streetsboro, which he felt was a big
issue; tax revenue was needed to keep the City operating. Brett McClafferty commented from the
audience that Interstate’s location on Ethan Drive was closed. Mayor Broska understood that
Interstate had left Streetsboro because they were taken off the towing list and not making money in
Streetsboro, but were to come back to Streetsboro now that they were back on the list. They had
gone before the Planning Commission because there were things they had to do to their property in
order to comply with the conditional use permit, which they did, so Planning Commission granted
their conditional use permit. Mayor Broska said when they complied with the Planning
Commission’s requirements, that’s when they went back onto the towing list, and there were only
two companies on the towing list (Interstate and Gateway). He felt competition was important.
Mr. Kocisko felt the businesses in town should be the ones the Mayor (and City) should support,
unless they couldn’t provide the needed service, but there was a towing company in town. Mayor
Broska noted that Interstate Towing had just as much right to compete in Streetsboro as any of the
restaurants. Mr. Kocisko wondered if the towing needs of Streetsboro were large enough to need
more than one business providing it.
Mr. Claypoole suggested bidding the job and just using the one company that provided the lowest
bid. Mayor Broska said “you can’t do that” because we can’t contract with a company and say they
would get a certain amount of runs or a certain amount of money. He said the City was currently
working on its towing ordinance that had been in place since 1971 that would stipulate what
Streetsboro would expect our towing companies to provide and the opportunity to provide that
should be open and not limit the competition. Mr. Claypoole thought the service should be bid like
the trash service.
Mrs. Field said the current ordinance allowed up to five towing companies to be on the rotation.
Chief Mosley explained in the past it hadn’t been an issue because Streetsboro Auto was the sole tow
provider for many years. He felt the primary issue to be addressed was customer service and the
towing guidelines/qualifications could be defined through a contract or through an ordinance. Mrs.
Field asked if the consumer could be allowed to choose the tow provider instead of using a rotation
system between the two. Chief Mosley explained that there were police enforcement tows and then
all other tows where the customer could chose a provider.
Mrs. Pavlick wasn’t sure why this was an agenda item. She commented that this country was built
on the backs of small businesses and she didn’t want to stifle anyone from starting a business here or
Safety Committee 01-09-12
Page 2 of 6

from being utilized by the City. She tried to shop in Streetsboro as much as possible, but she didn’t
want a monopoly and she felt competition helped keep prices in line, so it was OK to use a list. Mr.
Kocisko didn’t agree with the word monopoly, he just wanted to choose to use Streetsboro
businesses when possible. Mrs. Pavlick added that as long as the towing business followed EPA
guidelines and the City’s regulations there shouldn’t be a problem with the City using them.
It was confirmed there was just one towing company currently in Streetsboro but Interstate was
planning to relocate in Streetsboro again now that they were back on the list. Mr. Ruediger was
interested in any businesses coming to Streetsboro.
Mr. Faivre wondered if there was a problem with the rotation system with each business getting 50%
of the calls. He preferred everything stayed in Streetsboro, but with only one business it could be a
monopoly with higher prices. Mr. Ruediger asked if there was a price difference between the
companies. Chief Mosley said he didn’t know about the prices because the towing companies were
private entities that set their own rates.
Brett McClafferty, 8261 Diagonal Road, said Interstate Towing was evicted in September 2011 from
the Ethan Parkway location and that’s why they were taken off the towing rotation. Because they
were no longer operating in Streetsboro and they were not conforming with their conditional use
permit, that’s why they were taken off the towing rotation. He said they weren’t taken off the towing
rotation and then left Streetsboro. He noted that Ohio Revised Code set the maximum amount a
towing company could charge under consumer law. He said the issue before Council tonight wasn’t
competition or capitalism; it was taking care of our own businesses. He didn’t think the City should
take its business outside of the City, plus there was a convenience factor for our residents to use a
Streetsboro business. Mr. McClafferty added that every employee of Gateway Towing lived in the
City of Streetsboro and paid their income taxes here and sales tax in Portage County, but Interstate
Towing paid their sales tax in Summit County and their income tax went to Macedonia. Mr.
McClafferty said he supported competition and would support using multiple Streetsboro towing
companies, but as of today there was only one legal impound yard, only one tow company, operating
out of the City of Streetsboro. He thought Streetsboro shouldn’t use Interstate because Streetsboro
didn’t “benefit from those dollars.” He thought, until Interstate came back to Streetsboro, it was a
shame that the administration would consider sending a single taxpayer dollar outside Streetsboro.
Art Scott, 8525 Diagonal Road and former Mayor, said Interstate wasn’t a legal towing company in
Streetsboro and added that all of the Gateway employees lived in Streetsboro and paid taxes here.
Mr. Scott said it took him six months during his term as Mayor to determine if Gateway would be
the lone towing company, although the City ordinances allow up to five. He was concerned about
taking tax dollars out of the City and about reducing the work for the in-town towing company by
half, which might cause them to cut jobs. He added that Gateway could accommodate heavy towing.
He said many other towns had single towing companies providing their towing services. He didn’t
think Streetsboro had enough towing to have two (or five) towing companies.
Jeff Allen, 8221 SR 14 and Gateway Towing owner, confirmed that in the past this wasn’t an issue
Safety Committee 01-09-12
Page 3 of 6

ecause Streetsboro Towing did it for 30 or 40 years. He said the amount of revenue from towing in
Streetsboro (maybe $250,000/yr) could only sustain one towing company not two. If there was more
than one towing company each company would not have Streetsboro as their primary customer when
there was catastrophic weather, but a single provider would have Streetsboro as their priority. He
said a single provider wasn’t a monopoly; they would have backup who would be competing to
become the primary provider, so the industry checked itself. Mr. Allen said a single provider was
best, Gateway and Interstate both do a great job, but Gateway and its employees were located in
Streetsboro.
John Kerry, Frost Road, said he worked for Interstate Towing which was a multimillion dollar
company that towed for 25 other cities, plus towing on the Turnpike in Streetsboro, so they were
making money in Streetsboro.
Stephen Kolar, business at 9127 SR 14, said tonight’s previous comments were good. The sales tax
money west to the County. He said it wasn’t a monopoly, it was a primary provider. He thought the
primary tow provider should be a business in the City who could respond fast and impound locally
for easier customer access. He said the City should follow the laws on the books, which were set in
1971, that allowed up to five providers and required the tow providers to have a tow impound lot in
town, so only Gateway qualified. He said Mayor Broska had said Streetsboro needed to be
progressive and take care of its residents and Gateway and its employees were its residents.
Pearl Pullman, Morgan Way, said she didn’t know either towing company, but wanted what was best
for the residents. She said the income tax paid by the workers was important, but it was also
important to have competition. She felt this service should be bid.
Ms. Sanders asked if Interstate would take her vehicle where she wanted it to go. Chief Mosley
answered that if the vehicle didn’t need to be held for evidence, it conceivable could be towed
wherever the owner preferred, but that was rare and it was usually towed to an impound lot. Ms.
Sanders asked if the towing issue was an administrative decision or a Council decision. Mr.
Maistros said it wasn’t uncommon to bid this service, but the service wasn’t paid by the City it was
paid by the car owner. He said ultimately this would go to Council because he and the Police Chief
had been discussing some changes to the Code language which needed updated to fit with what the
Police Department required. Ms. Sanders said she agreed with Mr. Kocisko and would prefer
Streetsboro residents do the towing.
Mr. Ruediger said he would like to see any towing company in Streetsboro getting the towing
business and if there was only one, that was his preference. Mrs. Field added that she preferred to
have a local company too.
Mr. Kocisko thanked everyone for their comments; he hadn’t expected so much input from everyone.
He asked the Mayor to reconsider his decision and to use Gateway Towing as the primary towing
company in Streetsboro and use Interstate and any others as secondarys. The towing companies have
mutual aid and can call others for backup. Mr. Claypoole commented that he didn’t mind the City
Safety Committee 01-09-12
Page 4 of 6

using only one company, that was located in town, because they were the cheapest; but if they were
the only one in town, but not the cheapest, it wouldn’t be fair to the customers. Maybe it would be
good to bid this service.
Mrs. Field summarized that the Council Members preferred to keep the business within Streetsboro.
Mr. Faivre asked if this service was bid, could another company undercut Gateway Towing. Mr.
Allen responded that it was possible, but it would be senseless because there wasn’t enough revenue
in Streetsboro. He didn’t recommend bidding because it would tie the Mayor and Police Chief’s
hands if they had to get rid of a towing company.
Jeremiah Allen, 8693 SR 14, commented that if Gateway was the primary provider they would still
try to keep their prices down to avoid citizen complaints to the administration.
Mr. Kocisko thanked everyone for their input and asked the Mayor to consider a primary towing
company.
Replacement of MDTs for Police Cruisers
Chief Mosley said this was phase 2 of a two-year capital improvement project started last year. Onehalf
of the mobile computers in the cruisers were replaced last year and the other half would be
replaced with the same style of equipment in 2012 under state contract pricing.
MOTION: TO FORWARD TO THE JANUARY 23, 2012 REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING.
Moved by Mr. Faivre, seconded by Mr. Claypoole. Upon voice vote, motion carried.
Fulltime Firefighters Collective Bargaining Agreement
Mayor Broska said this would be discussed in executive session at tonight’s Regular Council
Meeting.
Citizens’ Comments
Stacey Vadaj, 1166 Gaynelle Ave. and City Zoning Inspector, clarified some points. She said there
were two impound lots in Streetsboro (Gateway Towing (a non-conforming legal use because it had
been there so long and was grandfathered) and another lot on Ellsworth (a conditional use permitted
impound lot, which Interstate Towing had a contract to use)). She said Gateway Towing didn’t exist
until about 1 to 1 ½ years ago when Dale Digler didn’t want to work for Interstate Towing and went
to Jeff Allen and started Gateway Towing. She noted that Mr. Allen’s companies had towed vehicles
in the past because of his scrap yard and because of what he does for a business, but not Gateway
Towing. She also noted that the trash service was bid and that service was paid by the individual
residents, not the City.
Mr. Allen commented that Ellsworth was in default; they hadn’t made a payment in five months and
hadn’t used it in a while.
Safety Committee 01-09-12
Page 5 of 6

Brett McClafferty summarized that emotions were involved with this because livelihoods were at
stake. He said it may seem a petty issue for some, but it was a big issue for the employees. He said
it was a simple issue of keeping the business in Streetsboro. He said when Interstate Towing started
towing and impounding again in Streetsboro, then this could be discussed, but until then there was
only one towing and impound yard in the City-Gateway Towing.
Stephen Kolar asked if a decision was expected so this would not be left open ended. He said the
current laws on the books should be enforced until Council chose to change them. He said he had
met with the police in Aurora and Chief Robbins in Hudson about how they handle towing and said
Hudson chose a resident that pays taxes in their town. The Safety Committee Chair asked Mayor
Broska if he could get back to City Council at next week’s meeting regarding this topic.
Announcements
A Council Meeting will immediately follow this meeting.
There being no further business to come before this Committee, and upon motion by Mr. Claypoole,
seconded by Mr. Faivre, this meeting adjourned at 8:57 p.m.
ATTEST:
_____________________________________
Caroline L. Kremer, Clerk of Council Chuck Kocisko, Chairman
ck
Safety Committee 01-09-12
Page 6 of 6