Council Discusses Towing And More

Tow truck company operators asked the Orange City Council Tuesday to rewrite the wrecker ordinance to “make it fair.”

Three men from wrecker companies spoke during the citizens comment part of the council meeting. Under state open meetings law, city staff and council members cannot respond on an item that is not on the published council agenda.

Michael Hall said the city lists 14 wrecker companies, but “technically there’s only five.” He said one company has nine trucks and the rotation list has 14 spots, with the one company getting nine calls.

The city police department uses a “rotation wrecker” program. A person who has been in a wreck or had other problems with a vehicle may choose a tow company. But if the person has no preference, police call a wrecker company based on a list. The names on the list are rotated.

Karl Van der Stucken of Car Wars said “there’s plenty of business for all of us,” but the Orange system is “very unjust” because of one company having nine names on the list.

Steve Quibodeaux of Bridge City Wrecker said the Orange system “gives someone the opportunity to monopolize” business. He said the city should make the ordinance fair.

During the business part of the meeting, the council unanimously approved a zone change for 1402, 1404, and 1406 Tenth Street near the corner of Burton Avenue. The change is from medium density residential to light commercial.

No one spoke against the change during public hearings conducted by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council.

The site for decades has had a barbershop and sometimes a beauty shop. Property owner Demetrius Hunter said he plans to tear down the old building and build a new one.

The council also approved a resolution backing a request to the Texas Department of Transportation to move the Interstate 10 access road bridges across Adam’s Bayou. City Manager Dr. Shawn Oubre said Orange County Commissioners Court requested the city make the resolution as a show of support.

Precinct 1 County Commissioner Johnny Trahan has said the low bridges impede drainage down the bayou during heavy rains. The bridges also trap trees, limbs and other debris to impede the flow.

Mayor Pro Tem Larry Spears, presiding in the absence of Mayor Jimmy Sims, said District 2 Councilor Brad Childs went “above and beyond” to research the bridge situation. He said Childs went in an aluminum boat along the bayou to check the situation.

The council voted to award a $116,029 contract to SpawGlass Construction of Beaumont, but District 4 Councilor Annette Pernell voted against the contract after questioning the bidding process.

Public Works Director Jim Wolf said SpawGlass was the second lowest bidder, but the low bidder, Duhon Construction, did not include two of the required pages in the sealed bid that was turned in. Duhon’s bid was $104,889.

Pernell questioned why the city could not go back and give Duhon a chance to turn in the pages. She wanted Wolf to answer, but Oubre did.

The bid was to repair Harvey damage to the Fleet Maintenance and Building Services facilities at 1109 and 1113 Polk Avenue. Oubre said the city has to meet a number of rules and regulations from FEMA, the city’s insurance, and state law. “When the (bid) packets are deficient, it makes them unacceptable,” he said.

The bidding process includes advertising the project, the pre-bid conference, and a deadline to turn sealed bid packages to the city secretary. All bids are opened at the same time and bidders may be present at the opening.

Wolf said the city had a pre-bid conference for construction companies to go over the details. Each building had about 200 line items, he said. Pernell said she wants to see the lists.

Wolf also said Duhon had gotten the contract to repair the Neighborhood Facilities Building.

Pernell said she hears people saying the city doesn’t use local businesses and she wants local companies.

At-Large Councilor Bill Mello said he hates for citizens to spend more money, but he did not vote against awarding the contract.

The third bidder was SETEX Construction of Beaumont with a bid of $118,280.

Other action by the council included approving the expenditure of $42,500 to bring the Southern Professional Outboard Racing Tour (SPORT) tunnel boat races back to the Boat Ramp on September 14-16. The money is coming from the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, which uses hotel occupancy taxes to support tourism.