By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA — The village will take a new taxi cab law back to the drawing board after concerns from a local cab company owner.

At Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting, Massena Transport owner Mike Zakarauskas told the board that the bill’s requirement that cabs be no older than 10 years would raise fairs and doesn’t do much to promote safety. He proposed the board pass a year limit, but make it older than 10 and require multiple yearly inspections for vehicles more than a certain age.

“Wholesale price of a Toyota Prius, we use a lot of them, is going to be about $10,000 … collision (insurance) is 17 percent of the retail value … probably $13,000 to $14,000,” he said. “If I can go buy a vehicle that’s 9 years old, I can get that for $3,500 … I can recoup my money by not having physical damage (insurance) … this all boils down to keeping the fares down.”

Police Chief Adam Love, who was part of drawing up the bill, said he wanted the year requirement because of the effects on winter roads.

“If you’re over 10 years, how many miles do you put on a car before it’s safe?” “How many miles do we want to have on a vehicle? Salt, sand, road conditions, that has to be brought into consideration also,” he said.

Zakarauskas said he will buy Priuses that are between 2006 and 2009 to run fares, then buy a wrecked 2004 or 2005 to strip for parts, because they work with the later models.

“If the vehicle is more than 10 years, I’m willing to get it inspected quarterly … at a station of your choosing,” he said. “They check brakes, they check the frame, they check rust”

Right now, the cars are checked once annually for New York state inspection and once by the village.

Trustee Tim Ahlfeld said he thinks quarterly isn’t necessary for older cars, but more than once per year is a good idea.

“Split it and make it every six months … I don’t think the DPW should do it,” Ahlfeld said. “I’ve got a 2006 Honda. There’s nothing wrong with it. I agree … if you take care of it, chances are there’s nothing wrong with it.”

Zakarauskas said he drug tests all his hires and wants the law to require it. He also does background checks, which are required under current village law.

“I think all our drivers should be drug tested. I think before the village gives a taxi license to an individual, that individual should demonstrate he or she has passed a drug test,” he said.

Mayor Tim Currier said when he was police chief, they discussed requiring drug tests but ultimately decided against it as it could keep an unemployed person of limited means from finding work.

“The worry was passing that cost on to people typically unemployed, that doesn’t have a job. That’s a lot of money for someone who is unemployed,” he said.

Zakarauskas said he foots the bill for the tests, which cost about $70, and by doing it he lowers his insurance costs.

“It’s a good point, hard to argue,” Ahlfeld said.

“We carry people in our cars. We get the extremes, people with no money, the vulnerable. We get a lot of people who are vulnerable in our cabs. I think we’re doing a disservice to the public by not checking them out … I don’t have to talk to anyone in this room about drug use in this room,” Zakarauskas said.

In addition to those concerns, he is worried that drivers from the Volunteer Transport Center in Canton are able to drive people in Massena and skirt the law. They are reimbursed 58 cents per mile, to and from any destination.

Bruce Green, who works for Green’s Cab Service, echoed Zackarauskas’s concerns about the volunteer drivers.

“You can call St. Lawrence County … and you’re over there two hours in a class … you can pick up anybody you want … you can do anything you want and there’s nothing you can do,” he said. “I watch Taxi Zero come in there every day. They’re not paying rent here in the village, they’re not paying the prices we have to pay.”

He said it’s easier for the volunteer drivers to get around the local laws because they drive their own cars, which have no livery or taxi plates and no logos on the sides.

The board will revisit the bill next month.