CITY OF
City Hall - 101 N. Court Street
Minutes
TAXICAB COMMISSION MEETING
9:00 a.m.
Wednesday, July 19th, 2006, room 212, City Hall
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Present: Alderman Paul
Smith, Alderman Donna Kuzemchak Ramsburg, Alderman Alan Imhoff, Jerry Wood,
Tammy Wood, Alan L. Winik, Lt. Tom Chase, Kenny Shapiro, William
Bowie, Daniel Q. Mahone, Eileen Farrar
Alderman Marcia Hall not present
Item
1: Approval of the minutes from the meeting of May
3rd,2006.
Minutes were approved. Vote 3-0 in favor.
Item 2: Consideration and discussion of
a request by Daniel Mahone on behalf of
Mr. Daniel Mahone stated on behalf Mr. William Bowie
that he would
like to propose a .50 cent surcharge.
Mr. Mahone stated that other jurisdictions that were charging an extra
.50 cents per trip. Alderman Ramsburg
stated that the charges are to be listed in the cab and Lt. Chase was asked
when the initial surcharge was enacted.
Mr. Bowie and Mr. Wood of City Cab did not use the surcharge when it was
first enacted approximately 6 years ago.
Lt. Chase stated that rates were set so there would not be
overcharging. Alderman Smith stated that
he did not want the streets to be tied up due to negotiating of costs to ride.
Public
Comment:
Mr William Bowie stated
that he would like help with the gasoline charges but did not want to raise the
hourly rate, but to just change the fee for entering the cab.
Mr. Alan Winick stated
that no one can predict what the cost of fuel might be and you might be
adjusting every few months if it is done now. Mr. Winick stated in 2004 there was a rate
increase of 40% and that it hurt business and that it was difficult to recover
from that. According to Mr. Winick, a rate hike or a surcharge causes a risk of
driving businesses under and depriving citizens of the services.
Commission
discussion:
Alderman Imhoff stated that increased charges should
be researched to help determine why they are needed. Alderman Smith thought a
comparison between jurisdictions is good idea but shouldn’t be modifying the
rates too frequently. Alderman Ramsburg
asked Eileen Farrar to do research on other jurisdictions as to rates and
surcharges and the Administrative Agency to do the same for the next meeting in
August.
Item 3: Discussion regarding Permit
#16.
Lt Chase stated that permit #16 is owned by Bowie
Transportation and had expired on the 30th of June. Mr. Bowie contacted the Administrative Agency
with the fact that he has not been able to attach a vehicle to that permit and
wanted Mr. Bowie to state his case before the 30 day expiration date. Lt. Chase stated that the vehicle had been
off the road since June 19th. Mr. Bowie
stated that he was having problems with the title aspect and stated that the
statement of inspection was completed but when the title changed he still
needed to have the vehicle inspected.
Mr. Bowie stated that he has purchased another vehicle and is in the
process of getting the car on the road. Alderman Ramsburg asked how long this
process would be and Mr. Bowie thought a week or two. The appeal process was
discussed and Alderman Smith thought that if there is going to be an exception,
there should be a time limit set. Mr. Shapiro stated that at this time there is
not the ability to grant the exception legally according to the ordinance.
Alderman Smith suggested that maybe adding language attributing to someone who
may be experiencing a situation that could lead to forfeiture. Alderman
Ramsburg stated that since we are in the first 30 days we cannot do anything
legally with permit #16. Alderman Ramsburg stated that any language changes must go before the
full Mayor and Board at a public meeting for approval.. Alderman Smith stated that he would like to incorporate
language regarding these issues.
Item
4: Continued discussion regarding proposed
purposes section and Section 23-9, 23-30, and 23-31 of the Taxicab Ordinance.
Mr. Shapiro stated that section 23-9 needed to be
reviewed due to a taxicab that is not operating and that this section only dealt
with new permits. Mr. Shapiro stated
that section (a) will change to state that whether the car is new or old or any
changes to the car must comply with all of the original regulations regarding
insurance and inspections. Section 23-30 section (a) was changed to state that
you must now file a written request and subsection (b) states it must be within
7 days. Mr. Shapiro stated that the goal of the purpose section proposed by
Alderman Smith was to make sure that all permit holders were in compliance and
that all of the vehicles are known to the city and are not sitting in another
lot not running. Mr. Shapiro thought the
added purpose section was good for for the ordinance and Alderman Smith thought
it should be added after Section 23-2 after definitions. Alderman Ramsburg agreed.
Public
Comment:
Mr. Alan Winick spoke
on behalf of City Cab and thought the purpose section was appropriate and had
no other issues with the changes made to the ordinance.
Motion:
Alderman Smith moved to recommend approval of the
changes made to sections 23-9. 23-30, 23-31, including the
addition of the proposed purposes section to the Taxicab Ordinance. Seconded by Alderman
Imhoff. Vote 3-0 in favor.
Item 5: Discussion regarding Fines.
Alderman Smith stated that he wanted to lower the
fines for failure to comply
in Section 23-30 subsection (f) from fifty dollars per day for
the first 7days for each day and reducing it to twenty five dollars for the
first 7days and then fifty dollars per day there after instead of one hundred
dollars per day feeling that it is easier to enforce if the fine is lower. The
question was asked if the “not to exceed” clause could be added and Mr. Shapiro
said yes. Lt. Chase stated that the administrative agency is only dedicated to
compliance and is trying to curtail the need to have several discussions
because compliance does not occur.
Alderman Imhoff stated that fines are levied to try to achieve
compliance and thought that fifty dollars was reasonable for the first week and
that one hundred dollars after that with revocation of the permit after
that. Alderman Ramsburg was ok with the twenty-five,
to fifty and then a week after that one hundred dollars and thought that a
graduated scale was ok .
Public
Comment:
Mr. Daniel Mahone agreed
with Alderman Smith’s comments regarding fines..
Mr Alan Winick stated
that he was happy with the process and thought the fines were sensible
in proportional to what a taxicab earns a day and then a week. If you have fines that are nearly a nuisance
then there are treated as such but if you have a graduated scheme the second
week it becomes more serious and that drives the overall purpose of the
legislation. Mr. Winick stated that City
Cab was fine with the legislation the way it stands.
Commission
discussion:
Discussion continued with regard to open ended fines
and the revoking of the permit. Mr. Shapiro stated that after sixty days there
are no longer any fines but the permit is revoked with a maximum total fine of $2,300
dollars. Alderman Ramsburg reminded the commission of the emergency clause in
the ordinance and Mr. Shapiro stated that there is nothing in the ordinance
that precludes anyone from appearing at the commission hearing. Alderman
Ramsburg thought it would be best if the entire board of Alderman hear this for
discussion at a public hearing to decide the fines. Alderman Imhoff asked if there was an annual
check of the fines and Lt. Chase stated that there would be a regular revision
of the statute. Alderman Smith was asked
by Alderman Ramsburg if he could draft an emergency provision in the ordinance
to allow the Taxicab Commission to consider other options should the law be too
harsh.
Public
Comment:
Mr. Daniel Mahone stated
that if a car is off the road, the permit holder is losing money and shouldn’t
still have to pay fines and thought there should not be any fine because the
punishment is the loss of money to the business.
Alderman Ramsburg stated that the purposes section
will be discussed at the next Taxicab Commission as well as the discussion on
fines.
Item 6: Discussion regarding possible
Taxicab Ambassador Training Program.
Alderman Ramsburg wanted the Commission to be aware
of a request by a citizen for a possible ambassador taxicab program. Information was distributed regarding the
MARYLAND TAXI HOST PROGRAM and how this might be incorporated into the
Frederick Area. Mr. Shapiro stated that
there will be effective January of 2007 a new administrative person that could
possibly teach this program as part of the job responsibility. Alderman Imhoff suggested that this program
should include historical information about this area as well.
Public
Comment:
Mr.Jerry Wood stated
that he would like to have safety issues taught at this class as well and asked
if the ambassador program would be given before the license is issued. Lt.
Chase stated that if this program becomes a requirement there will be a certain
amount of time to take the course but will not keep someone from getting their
license issued.
Ms.Tammy Wood asked
how long it would take to get a surcharge into effect if the gas rates go to
$4.00 a gallon. Alderman Smith stated
that any part of the ordinance regarding rates could be reviewed at any time
and must be reviewed every five years.
Alderman Ramsburg stated that this will go to a Mayor and Board for
approval and public comment at the September meeting..
Mr. Alan Winick passed
out photographs of taxicabs that are destroyed from graffiti and patrons that
use them and how this makes the cost of business go up.
Mr.Willliam
Alderman Ramsburg reminded everyone of the Mayor and
Board of Aldermen public meeting on Thursday, September 7th at 7:00
p.m. at City Hall.
Minutes submitted by Eileen S. Farrar