Village removes utility vehicles from parking lot

The village of Saranac Lake has taken action to remove several vehicles from a municipal lot.

According to officials, village police removed three large utility vehicles from the village’s parking lot at the intersection of Broadway and Bloomingdale Avenue.

The owners of the vehicles were fined $9,300 for accumulated parking violations.

Police say the three vehicles were registered to Planert Utility, a Scottsville, New York-based company that conducted street utility work last fall near the parking lot.

The violation was reported by Trustee John McEneany, who asked police to tow the vehicles out of the lot.

“Like everyone else, I thought the company would return and get their vehicles and finish the work,” McEneany said in a prepared statement. “But it became apparent that wasn’t happening, so I called our police department to take care of the situation.”

Planert Utility went out of business in January and the registration on all three vehicles is expired.

Police say they’ve started the – quote – “abandoned vehicle seizure process,” which includes sending letters to the last known registered owners and leasing companies to advise them of the seizure and the $9,300 parking ticket.

Impound fees have been accumulating since April 20 at $10 per vehicle, per day.

“There could be a significant financial benefit for the village if these vehicles are claimed, sell them as abandoned property or use them in-house,” McEneany added.

The vehicles include a 1989 International Harvester bucket truck, 1991 International Harvester stake rack truck and 2002 Pace utility trailer.