44 vehicles towed at UM for storm cleanup

ORONO – The storm earlier this week brought more than sloppy, icy conditions for some who attend or work at the University of Maine.

Over the course of nearly five hours early Wednesday morning, 44 vehicles were towed from the campus parking lots, clearing the lots of vehicles so snow and ice could be removed, a university spokesman said.

Such a large number of towed vehicles is not unheard of, and in past winter seasons, the local towing company has approached that number and even exceeded it occasionally, university spokesman Joe Carr said on Friday, the eve of another potential storm.

“It’s unusual to have that many, but not unheard of,” Carr said.

In general, the vehicles towed were parked in the wrong lots, such as residential permitted vehicles parked in commuter lots and commuter permitted vehicles not left in one of three lots reserved for overnight parking.

Like municipalities, the university imposes a winter ban beginning on Nov. 1 that closes the faculty, staff, commuter and visitor lots between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. That ban runs through May 1.

In cases where lots need plowing and clearing, vehicles are towed at the owners’ expense, although at other times vehicles could be ticketed rather than removed, Carr said.

The university contracts with Sullivan’s Automotive Service for the towing and is in the third year of a three-year contract with the Old Town-based towing service. The contract was awarded through a competitive bid process. Carr said the university required specific conditions aimed at making the process for people to get their vehicles back as convenient as possible.

A tow-truck operator from the company referred all questions to the owner of Sullivan’s, who was not available Friday afternoon.

The university tries to make information about the winter ban, and parking rules in general, available to those attending, working at or visiting the campus. Details are printed on the permits issued and on parking maps that are given out with the permits, Carr said. Signs outside the parking lots provide some information as possible on the space available.

“The rules are very clear and there’s a significant effort to make drivers aware of what those rules are,” Carr said.

Towing tends to be heaviest early in the season when motorists haven’t adjusted to the change in parking rules, he said.