Cloverdale grapples with proposed insurance changes

CLOVERDALE — A year after the town had to shake up health insurance coverage for its employees, the Cloverdale Town Council weighed similar ramifications at its recent regular meeting.

Hearing from the town’s EPIC Insurance agent Andrew O’Hair, what it came down to was “a little basic Insurance 101,” in that claims are based on frequency versus severity. In essence, one big claim is better than having many small ones.

O’Hair related that he had received a non-renewal notice from Astra Insurance, the town’s property and casualty carrier, about a month prior. After reviewing some “back-end” information, he said he understood the reasoning, this being many claims working in a volatile insurance market.

O’Hair presented the council what he called “the absolute worst-case scenario” in switching the town’s package to Trident Insurance. He noted in this that the town’s worker’s compensation performance has been good with few on-the-job injuries.

“I would have no problem other than the price,” O’Hair provided, adding that Plainfield, as a decidedly larger and more profitable municipality, recently switched to Trident.

This, he said, indicated that Trident is not high-risk, other than being a reputable municipal carrier. Besides some coverage differences to be negotiated, O’Hair said gaps included lower earthquake coverage, while cyber coverage is a newer consideration.

Everything considered, the worst-case scenario as it stood came with a 30-percent rate increase.

“All in all, I know it’s a big number. I know the situation is always a little tight,” O’Hair said. “And I hate to say it could be worse, but it could be much worse than this in the situation we’re in.”

Having gone through two pages of claims, O’Hair said he found only three which probably could not have been avoided. He suggested that while the claims were not severe, they added up in patterns.

With their frequency being the crux, O’Hair said loss control training could make an impact in mitigating these incidents.

“Maybe it doesn’t instantly change things, but next year, if we have a really good year, we take this out and they say, ‘Hey, the town’s committed,’” O’Hair said. “Hard to put a dollar value on that, but when we’re putting together our narrative and our sales pitch to the carriers, the more we have, the better.”

O’Hair said final numbers could be had by the end of the month, while the switch has to be made by Aug. 6. As such, the council agreed to hold a special meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 2 at 6 p.m. to consider them.

In other business:

• The council approved two contracts with Duke Energy for lighting at the town’s sewer treatment plant and utility building and at the town hall, respectively. Town Manager Jason Hartman noted that a grant was used, and that the return on investment and light replacement would be guaranteed for five years.

• The council renewed an annual contract for the town’s Boyce financial accounting software. While the specific cost was not stated, it was suggested that it did increase. The renewal’s cost last year was $8,860.

• The council approved to pay a bill for $780.84 to ServiceMaster in Greencastle for vacuuming water after a recent leak on Cemetery Road. Hartman said the leak occurred at the top of the hill there, ran down and flooded a house with “a pretty substantial amount of water.”

In the same vein, the council also approved a quote for $3,407.62 for carpet and padding damage, with Hartman noting that $153 (i.e. seven-percent sales tax) would be taken off if it was paid directly to the company. The council also approved a bill for $1,636.22 for a coupling and a gasket used to fix the leak.

• Council Vice President Larry Fidler and Councilman Brandon Tancak volunteered to sit in on meetings with Clerk-Treasurer Kelly Maners and individual departments about the town’s budget for 2023.

Maners noted that a public hearing on the budget and its final approval were tentatively set for Sept. 13 and Oct. 13, respectively. Both would be held in conjunction with the council’s regular meetings.

• The council adopted Resolution 2022-8 acknowledging that the town utility is no longer required to have utility receipts taxes (URTs) for the state. Maners said URTs would be incorporated into the town’s rates so that the “status quo” could be kept even as costs increase overall.

Maners said she had averaged URTs per utility customer last year to be 50 cents in savings each month.

• The council adopted Resolution 2022-9 formally recognizing the town’s joining Aim Medical Trust for its employee health insurance. The council approved to go with the provider last month.

• The council renewed its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Cloverdale Schools to provide a school resource officer (SRO). Though the terms have not changed, Town Marshal Steve Hibler said a second SRO could be funded by the school corporation, per talks he said he has had with Supt. Greg Linton.

The Cloverdale School Board approved the MoU at its regular meeting on July 11.

• The council renewed the town’s contract with EAS Technology Consultants for IT support. Noting that the price went up, Maners said she looked at the number of service hours last year and found that the cost was “a break even” comparing ŕ la carte fixes and the service overall.

“My experience is that their service is really good; they usually fix our issues fairly quickly,” Maners said before the contract was approved.

• The council approved the second supplement of a contract with American Legal Publishing to codify the town’s ordinances. Maners explained that the town entered into the contract in 2017 and fulfilled the first supplement as it has expired.

She noted that the town would pay by the page and add them online and in the town’s physical code. The quote of the new supplement came to just over $4,000 to cover the ordinances enacted between 2019 and 2021.

• Culminating months of updates and determining logistics, the council approved a proposal from S5 Security Solutions for new security cameras. The $10,068.50 quote (without sales tax) provided for 17 cameras between the town’s assets, including the town hall and the park.

Town Attorney Richard Shagley joined Maners, Hartman, Hibler and the rest of the council, while Council President Rick Dearwester was absent.

The next regular meeting of the Cloverdale Town Council is set for Tuesday, Aug. 9 at 7 p.m. at the Cloverdale Town Hall.