Cloverdale council goes with new insurance package

CLOVERDALE — With it being said that any increase is not a good one, but also that the optimal option under-promised and over-delivered, Cloverdale leaders settled on a package for property-casualty insurance at a special meeting Tuesday evening.

Having presented the town council what he deemed the “absolute worst-case scenario” last month, the town’s EPIC Insurance agent Andrew O’Hair related that he wanted to be up-front about all the options available. With a new provider coming in afterward, new prospects opened up.

As such, the council approved to go with EMC Insurance, which came with a seven-percent rate increase over last year. However, it was noted that this was decidedly less than Trident Insurance’s package, which would have entailed a 30-percent rate increase.

“I don’t want to discount that. I know that any increase is a pain. I know that municipal budgets are being pinched,” O’Hair said. With this, he emphasized that the town’s 99-percent loss ratio boded well for EMC’s rate increase in a market that is volatile overall.

Viewing them as not being overly significant, O’Hair touched on the property deductible going from $1,000 to $2,500 and earthquake insurance at $10 million (with a 10-percent deductible on the value of a structure). Meanwhile, professional liability stands at $1 million with an additional $1 million umbrella.

Looking to the future, O’Hair reiterated having a comprehensive cyber coverage policy, as well as a need to improve loss control. With the former not being cheap, he said it was best practice nonetheless given the prevalence of ransomware and other IT issues.

Looking back, Councilman Brandon Tancak queried O’Hair about the council being aware of the non-renewal notice by Astra Insurance, which covered the town previously. To him, it was “backed into a corner” having to scramble for coverage after the fact.

“Our goal, honestly, is to have renewals put to bed 30 days prior,” O’Hair responded, adding that it was a surprise to EPIC in turn. “A lot of times, for a lot of reasons, that’s not realistic.”

O’Hair stressed that putting together applications is a process begun 90 days out from renewals. It gets tougher, he said, when an account may not be considered in a tight municipal sector if it has not been renewed.

“I do not like doing anything last-minute any more than you all,” O’Hair said. “We work hard to try to avoid these situations. Unfortunately, we do get into these situations, and try to be a little bit ahead of it next year.”

In other business:

• With waiving a second reading, the council passed Ordinance 2022-10 outlining the town assuming the private drive next to McDonald’s as a new street. Town Manager Jason Hartman said previous co-owners McDonald’s/Jedele Enterprises, Days Inn and Ralph Lee were all on board with the transfer.

The council has considered making repairs to the road, which has drainage and structural issues, to attract business. The town taking ownership means it can apply for Community Crossings grant funding to do so.

• The council tabled naming a new president, as well as consideration of police hires, due to the whole council and police not being present. It was determined that both could be addressed at its regular meeting next Tuesday.

It was acknowledged that Ward 2 representative Rick Dearwester announced his resignation before the council’s meeting last month. The Putnam County Republican Party has 30 days from Tuesday to find his replacement, as this was when the caucus process began.

With Dearwester and Councilwoman Cindy Holland not in attendance, Clerk-Treasurer Kelly Maners and Town Attorney Richard Shagley joined Hartman, Tancak, Council Vice President Larry Fidler and Councilman Greg Jay for the meeting.