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<br /> <br />REQUEST FOR ACTION <br /> <br />To <br />Ci Council <br />Agenda Section <br />Consent <br />Item Description <br />Request for Approval of Towing Agreements <br /> <br />Meeting Date <br />A ril21, 2008 <br /> <br /> <br />Administrator <br /> <br />Action Requested <br />I am requesting that the Council review and approve the two attached towing agreements between the <br />City and Collins Brothers Towing and Morrell Towing for provision of towing services for the Elk River <br />Police Department. A signature is needed from the Mayor and City Clerk if these agreements are <br />approved. <br /> <br />BackKround/Discussion <br />The police department has utilized two local towing services for police tows and impounds for years. This <br />process has worked well, even though there has been no formal agreements between the City and the tow <br />providers. The two companies have worked well with the police department to provide quality services <br />which meet the needs of the department and those we serve. <br /> <br />Recendya third company asked to be included in the tow calls. This new company is a start-up business, <br />with one truck and two drivers. I had some concerns as to if this company could provide the level of <br />towing services needed here in Elk River. In researching the service provisions further, it really hit home <br />that without any type of written agreement between ourselves and our tow providers, we really have no <br />written or documented business standards or expectations from our towing companies. <br /> <br />More important, there is no current written agreement which would help indemnify the City should <br />anyone place a claim against us relative to a police tow. <br /> <br />I researched this issue by contacting a number of municipalities, and found that all of them utilized <br />towing agreements. These cities included Ramsey, Anoka, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove, and also Anoka <br />County and the Metro Division of the Minnesota State Patrol. <br /> <br />Utilizing the agreements drafted by these cities, and based on guidelines proposed by the United States <br />Towing Association, I drafted a proposed agreement for the current towing arrangement, and sent it to <br />City Attorney Peter Beck for review. Mr. Beck made some changes that helped further with our <br />indemnification, and gave his approval to moving forward with written agreements. <br /> <br />In speaking with Mr. Beck about using more than two companies to provide our service, he stated that <br />we are not paying for the services ourselves, and as such there is no obligation to use anyone other than <br />those we are confident provide us the level of service we desire. <br /> <br />C: \Documents and Settings \jjohnson \Local Settings \ Temporary Internet Files \ OLK49\Action Requested-approval of towing agreements Zoo8.doc <br />