Councilman George Muschal said residents should be reimbursed after cars were towed, but streets were left unplowed Watch video
TRENTON -- During the January blizzard that dumped nearly two feet of snow on the city, more than 200 people who didn't heed warnings to move their vehicles got towed. But one councilman now says those residents should be reimbursed after many of the city streets were left unplowed for days.
"I know we had a problem with snow removal, but council should step up to the plate and the cars that were towed and nothing was done with that, I recommend that we pay the fee on these cars," Councilman George Muschal said Tuesday night. "At the next meeting, we bring something up here: Anyone that's got a receipt, gets reimbursed."
The suggestion followed a complaint by resident Tom Henry, who said 10 cars were towed from Centre Street despite city plows taking days to clear the street.
"Friday to Monday, not a snow truck came down," he said. "Why did the cars get towed?"
Councilman Alex Bethea called it a double-whammy, saying the same is true when residents are ticketed for blocking the street sweepers that never pass through.
"Street sweepers are supposed to come, people get ticketed and no street sweepers," he said. "Snow plows are supposed to come, cars get towed, no plows and they still have to pay for those cars. That's not fair."
Before and during the storm, police warned people not to park on a couple dozen streets and opened up school parking lots so that plows could clear the roadways. But a lack of cooperation from the public, Police Director Ernest Parrey said, led to more than 200 cars being towed. Some had blocked snow emergency routes, while others were stuck and abandoned.
"This last snowstorm was worse than last year and we had even less cooperation this year," he said.
He said police worked to pull as many cars from snow routes as possible so public works crews could plow.
"But how do we deem when the road was plowed and when the vehicle was moved or not moved in a timely manner?" Parrey said.
Marc McKithen, the city's law director, added that the towing is done by a third-party vendor.
"We can't just resend the fees like we do with the water department," he said. "We would be paying fees to a third party if council decides to reimburse or make that payment."
Councilman Duncan Harrison said though he was sympathetic with the residents whose cars were towed even if the plows never came, those who choose to disregard street signs are still violating the law.
"We cannot set long-term laws for what was a temporary problem," he said. "If you are parking in a sign that says there's a street sweeper coming between this time and that time, and you choose to stay there whether the street cleaning comes or does not come, you're still violating the law and we have to understand that.
"We cannot begin to give leeway on these things," he continued.
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Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.