PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Commission is looking at setting up requirements and guidelines for companies that are on the county’s wrecker service list.

On Thursday, the commission added Westfall Towing and Aaron’s Towing & Recovery for the wrecker service list. The county now has 13 companies on the list to be dispatched by 911 to accident scenes.

Mike Shook, the assistant Homeland Security and Emergency Management-assistant 911 director, said the companies were reviewed and approved to be on the list. He needed the commission’s approval to do so.

Commissioners told Shook a policy needed to be created about how many companies would be on the rotation, requirements for each participating company in what they are expected to do and meeting those requirements.

There was discussion that Emergency Services would do a bid-like process for companies to be put on the list.

Commission President Blair Couch wanted to see if a fee could be instituted for being on the list that would be good for a year. He wasn’t sure if a state code would prohibit that.

“They would have to agree to certain standards,” Couch said. “I do know that if you call for a wrecker through 911 they add a surcharge onto it.”

Shook said the wrecker companies do not pay anything to the 911 center to be on the list.

Couch said they could have a set number of companies that present proposals about what they will do over a four-year period.

Shook said some of the issues they are facing are companies that won’t come out on Sundays or have asked not to be called out after 5 p.m.

“That just slows the process down,” he said.

The bid would include when the companies would be available, Couch said, adding he would expect them to be available 24/7.

“You make the bid to meet the specs to be on the call sheet,” he said.

Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure said that approach would work out better for the county.

“You are setting the expectations,” he said. “To be on this you must meet X, Y and Z.”

Commissioners agreed to meet with Lefebure at a later date to set up the guidelines and requirements for the list.

“We need to come up with a regulation form,” Commissioner Robert Tebay said so any interested companies will know what is expected of them.

“To be on the list, you will have to meet certain mandates,” Couch added.

In other business:

∫ The commission announced a vacancy on the Mineral Wells Public Service District Board. Howard Baldwin had resigned and a replacement will need to be appointed.

∫ Lefebure said he was contacted by American Tower to restart negotiations on a lease renewal for the ground a communications tower sits on at the Wood County 911 Center. Part of the current agreement allows the county to put emergency communications equipment on the tower.

“They want to restart that process,” Lefebure said.

Earlier this year the commission indicated it wanted the company to start paying $1,000 a month for the use of the ground the tower sits on which the company agreed to. The commissioners did not sign the agreement as they felt they had time to consider it.

The current lease ends in 2028. The company has its last 10-year option on the property for use of the tower.

“They want to do it as quick as possible,” Lefebure said.