Easton had to have about 10 vehicles towed during the snowstorm.
Police and municipal officials agree: When it comes to enforcing snow emergency routes, towing is a last resort.
Lower Macungie Township commissioners took heat during a meeting last week from residents whose cars were towed during the snow emergency Jan. 2 and 3.
Some residents said they were unaware that a snow emergency had been declared in the township while others said Mechanics Plus Towing's $400 price tag was too much to release their vehicles.
"The last thing we want to do is tow cars in a snowstorm," Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said. "We very rarely have to tow cars."
Easton officials made every attempt not to tow vehicles but in the end, about 10 had to be towed from snow emergency routes during the first winter storm of 2014, Panto said.
After the snow emergency was declared, authorities notified residents to move their vehicles, Panto said. Free parking was available at the city's parking garage, and police officers used spotlights and public address systems to notify those parked in snow zones. Officials also tried to locate vehicles' owners by using their license plate numbers, he said.
But the city had to make room for the trucks to plow the streets, Panto said.
"We tried to let people know ahead of time," he said. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose."
Those who were towed in Easton had to fork over $165 plus an extra $15 because of the snow emergency, according to an Easton Auto Body employee. In some cases, another $15 is added if the company must use a flatbed or dolly to move the vehicle, the employee said.
Neither the mayor nor the police department received any complaints, the employee said.
Back in Lower Macungie Township, board of commissioners' Vice President Brian Higgins said last week that he stands by officials' decision to declare an emergency and tow cars. Clearing snow from 100-plus miles of road is a difficult task and cars left parked along emergency routes make it harder, he said.
Higgins said last week that he sympathized with residents' frustration, however, and acknowledged that the township could have done a better job with notification. A notice was posted on the township's website, Facebook page and Twitter feed, township Manager Bruce Fosselman said. An email alert was also sent to residents and local media outlets reported the snow emergency, as well.
Residents said a township-wide automated call would have been more effective, along with a text message or flier.
Other municipalities managed to avoid towing cars.
Phillipsburg police Chief James Faulborn said no cars were towed during the most recent snowstorm, but authorities do make an effort to clear snow emergency routes before towing. Police notify the public through social media and officers pass through areas alerting people by using loudspeaker systems in their patrol vehicles, he said.
A resident would have to pay $125 plus a per-day storage fee of $35 if a vehicle is towed from an emergency route, Faulborn said.
Sgt. Darren Tynan of the Hackettstown Police Department said no vehicles were towed during the most recent snowfall but officers handed out about 10 $30 tickets.
"Once a snow emergency is declared, it's no parking on any street," he wrote in an email.
Larry Palmer, chief of the Palmer Township Police Department, said, "We did not tow any cars. Any that were left on the snow emergency routes we were able to contact the owners to move them."