Insurance plan approved for Jeffersonville

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December 20, 2012

Insurance plan approved for Jeffersonville

Increases to property cost were left off previous policies

By BRADEN LAMMERS braden.lammers@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Thu Dec 20, 2012, 07:31 AM EST

JEFFERSONVILLE — An insurance renewal plan presented at a Board of Public Works meeting last week was brought back before the board Wednesday.

Public Works Coordinator Rick Lovan said he did not want to move forward with the vote last week because Mayor Mike Moore was not in attendance. The plan that was recommended by Jerry Rauck, agent of record with ISU Insurance and Investment Group, was through Travelers Insurance and totaled $1.14 million annually. The cost of the policy had increased from last year because Rauck said $42 million worth of additional property was added to the policy.

Moore explained the property was not new items purchased by the city, but items that had failed to be included on the insurance premium under the previous agent of record.

“Over the course of the last seven or eight months you all have discovered several entities, property ... previously held by the city of Jeff, but were never insured by the city of Jeff?” Moore asked Rauck.

“That’s correct,” he said. “We added several locations, property at the locations that the city had previously that were not on the policy that we discovered through the process of meeting with department heads.”

Rauck said at the beginning of 2012, the city insured $58 million in property and through upgrades and property additions, the total jumped to about $100 million.

“[The properties were] not purchased through this administration, they were just things that we had overlooked or needed to be upgraded,” Lovan interjected.

At last week’s board of public works meeting Rauck said the city added 34 vehicles that were not on the policy when it was renewed at the start of 2012 and throughout the year, Jeffersonville purchased 26 vehicles, increasing the net vehicles covered by 60.

“That’s what we had when we walked into this year with the city, we had vehicles that were driving around the city that have no insurance on them,” Moore said. “If I’m not mistaken, the street department building and the vehicle maintenance building, those buildings, we all knew they were there, but there was no insurance coverage on them, so therefore we weren’t paying a premium for it.

“It took a year-long audit to discover all of this stuff,” Moore said.

The Travelers insurance package included both property and workers compensation packages changed the city’s deductible on property from $5,000 to $10,000 and is set to go into effect Jan. 1.

The policy was unanimously approved.

Road closures

Two road closures for road races were tentatively approved, provided the plans get OK’d by an events committee. Moore explained that an events committee will help plan, organize and schedule events next year. Both events presented Wednesday will be reviewed by the committee.

The first request came from Peggy Cundiff, who is organizing a 5K walk/run to honor her son who passed away after suffering from an addiction. Proceeds from the race scheduled from 7-10 a.m. May 25 will go to benefit Serenity House Inc. — a halfway house specializing in helping people recover from addictions.

The road closures for the race will be on Riverside Drive and Market Street.

“There have been eight individuals from the Serenity House that have passed away in the last six months, so there is a huge need for this counseling center.” Cundiff said.

Road closures for a second race that will have its start and finish in Jeffersonville was also approved, subject to review by the events committee.

A half-marathon to benefit Habitat for Humanity from 7-11 a.m. Feb. 10 will close a portion of Riverside Drive near the Sheraton Louisville Riverside Hotel, which will be the start and finish point for the race.

Tree walk

Planning and Zoning Director Shane Corbin requested an approval from Board of Public Works to enter into contract for a tree walk masterplan in downtown.

“This began because UEZ [Urban Enterprise Zone] wanted to do tree-planting projects downtown and we decided that instead of randomly going out and planting trees ... let’s do a plan or a theme or a concept,” he said

The concept that came out of the plan was to plant a tree walk around Spring and Chestnut streets that stretches 1.6 miles. Corbin added that the UEZ is main funding source for the proposed project and his request was approved.

Light-up Riverside

A request made by Barbara Wilson to place luminaries along Riverside Drive to Spring Street on Sunday, Dec. 23, was unanimously approved.

Fire truck sale approved

The board of public works agreed to allow the Utica Volunteer Fire Department to purchase a 25-year-old fire truck to use as a reserve tanker truck. Jeffersonville Fire Department no longer uses the truck, and a purchase price of $5,000 was offered.