Once again, the Ashville City Council is dealing with wrecker service rotation issues.For years, Ray Stevens was the only wrecker service in town. A little over a year ago, Frank Brooks of Brooks Wrecker Service asked to be put on the rotation and was added to the rotation by the council after discussions and debates in several meetings.
Now, there is speculation that Stevens has sold his business and Phillip Payne of Payne Wrecker Service is asking that his wrecker service also be included in the rotation.
During a work session Monday, Mayor Robert McKay questioned whether Stephens had , in fact, sold the wrecker business. He asked Police Chief Dennis Matthews did he know for a fact that this has taken place.
Matthews said although he had not talked to Stevens in person, he knew Stephens had sold his business to two individuals, one being Mark Partlow.
Partlow was at the work session and he also wants to be on the rotation of wrecker service. City Clerk Bertha Wilson said the new owners have bought a business license.
“We got in a mess before and I want to make sure we do the right thing,” McKay said. “Frank, you are in the rotation and doing a great job. Phillip (Payne), I do not have any problems with you going on rotation. The Phillip’s family was in the wrecker business when I was a kid.”
Brooks said Payne’s daddy and other family members were in the wrecker business long before he or Stevens were.
Councilman David Thompson said the problem right now is they have two businesses wanting to be put on rotation at the same time. Thompson asked Brooks how many wrecker calls a day he received in Ashville to which Brooks said two to three per day.
“It’s never an easy decision,” McKay said. “This is the reason a lot of people do not want to serve on the City Council because you have to make decisions regarding people you have known all your life.”
During the actual council meeting, Councilman Ronnie White said the city got in this same situation back in May 2007.
“We received a letter from the League of Municipalities stating that if a business is qualified, we cannot stop them from being on the rotation,” White said. “Both have licenses. The mayor wants to pick one of the two. I believe we need to allow both of them to go on the rotation. It does not matter about our personal thoughts, we have to do what is right.”
The council finally agreed to table the matter until they could get legal advice from city attorney Alex Weisskopf.
