Operators describe costly motorhome and RV abandonment; committee considers reimbursement models

Tow operators and committee members discussed the operational and financial burden of abandoned recreational vehicles, which may lack plates or insurance and can require hazardous-material handling and expensive disposal.

Troy Barnett described the problem: "Motor homes on the sides of the road and and they may or they may not run and quite honestly the person that's in that motor home, might might be perfect and just doesn't have a place to live, but that it might be a, meth lab or a hazardous with drugs and everything else." Operators said the abandoned-vehicle process can leave towers with storage, dismantling and disposal costs; one operator explained the current owner-penalty process can yield $100 to the tower and $400 to the state from a cited $500 penalty when a last-registered owner is found.

Members discussed models in other jurisdictions (for example, a nominal registration fee that flows to a reimbursement fund) and asked DPS and staff to research options, including bond mechanisms or registration-fee funds that would let towers apply for reimbursement for salvage and disposal costs.