By BRADEN LAMMERS
Braden.Lammers@newsandtribune.com
CLARK COUNTY —
The Clark County Commissioners received a bit of good news on the cost of the county’s insurance premiums Tuesday, but are still tackling questions on how to fund the next portion of the Star Hill Road project.
A decision on approving the county’s insurance was delayed last week and picked up at a special meeting Tuesday, because Edward Culpepper Cooper, the county’s agent-of-record, asked for extra time to secure a lower premium.
The rate that came back to the commissioners from the county’s current insurance provider Bliss-McKnight actually increased from $373,410 last year to $394,588 for this year’s renewal. But, worker’s compensation premiums decreased from $300,194 for last year to $282,084 for the renewal.
Cooper, along with Randall Teltoe, agent with Burnham and Flower Insurance Group, suggested the county change its approach on how it was determining coverage.
“The best way to handle risk is to insure for the catastrophic losses and handle the smaller losses yourselves,” Teltoe said. “You guys are doing just the opposite.”
Under previous policies the county was carrying a lower deductible, but was paying a slightly higher premium.
By increasing the county’s premium from $2,500 to $10,000, the county would have paid out $132,629 more in claims over five years. But over the same time frame the lower premiums — as a result of the higher deductible — would have saved the county $228,610, a difference of $95,981 or $19,000 per year.
The approach presented by the insurance agents is not without some risk.
“Really the only risk we’re taking then is if we have more occurrences where we have to pay out the larger deductible,” said Commissioner Les Young.
If the deductible limit is reached for more claims, the county could end up paying more than it did with the lower deductible.
In order to ensure the county does achieve a savings it needs to continue to manage or reduce claims and may end up fighting more claims in court.
“Under this structure you’ll need to be aware that I’ll be coming to you more often seeking settlement authority of up to $10,000,” said Greg Fifer, attorney for the commissioners. “It will become more frequent instead of less frequent because of the way it’s now structured.”
The final proposal recommended to the commissioners was to accept a general liability policy through Burnham and Flower Insurance Group for $348,866, a savings of $45,722 from the price offered from Bliss-McKnight’s proposal and $24,544 over last year’s policy. Worker’s compensation coverage was recommended through Downey Insurance for an annual premium of $269,934, a savings of $12,150 from the price offered from Bliss-McKnight and $30,260 over last year’s policy.
Extra liability coverage was also purchased for $5,621 to raise claim limits to $5 million — the maximum Indiana state law allows.
Overall savings from 2009-2010 insurance coverage to the amount approved for 2010-2011 is $49,183.
The commissioners approved the new policy 2 to 0, Commissioner Mike Moore was not in attendance for Tuesday’s meeting.
Star Hill Road
The commissioners approved moving forward with plans to get appraisals and make right-of-way purchases to prepare for phase one construction of Star Hill Road.
A motion was approved 2 to 0 contingent upon an interlocal agreement being signed with the town of Borden, which would agree to pay 36 percent of the costs.
The 36 percent figure, which is also equal to the percentage of the road that lies within Borden’s town limits, was a sticking point for Commissioner Ed Meyer.
“Before we spend it, Borden has to get on board,” he said.
In order to begin some construction on Star Hill Road in 2011 $38,000 of additional right-of-way work, $13,600 for final engineering designs and $55,000 to purchase the remaining right-of-ways needs to be funded.
For next year, estimates equal $260,000 for completion of phase one construction.
Funding for the project is expected to come from left over Economic Development Income Tax — EDIT — money of which $258,000 has been freed up for 2010 and an estimated $200,000 will be available in 2011.
The commissioners have also been asking the Clark County Council to secure a funding source for the 2011 construction costs as it will have four road projects it is attempting to keep alive — including St. John Road, Bethany Road and Salem-Noble Road.
In other business:
The commissioners approved buying a Palmer Power Product salt brine maker for $76,718.
Expectations are that over three years the brine equipment — which is used to treat roads before inclement winter weather hits — will save the county money on purchasing salt and other pre-weather treatment products.
Clark County Engineer Hyun Lee said the county purchased 1,500 tons of salt for 2009-2010 at a cost of $63 per ton, totaling $94,500.
For 2010-2011 the cost per ton has decreased to $60.40 and the county still has about 700 tons of salt in reserves, Lee said.
By purchasing the brine equipment the county plans on spending less on salt.
Cost savings may also be realized through fewer hours of overtime the county will have to pay for workers treating the roads, Young said.
The commissioners declared an emergency and agreed to pay the money out of their Cumulative Capital Fund.
