ALMONT — The Almont Village Council held their monthly meeting June 16, covering insurance increases, and clarifications on corrections and budgets.
The majority of the opening of the meeting consisted of corrections and corroborations on edits and numbers in the agenda, followed by public comment time for clearance of the Side by Side run, for the third year in a row.
A resident inquired about the state of roads for the event and whether they'd be shut down or under construction.
"We don't have any objection with it, but I don't think we have any stated action we can make," said Councilmember Steve Schneider.
"We can't go as far as to offer our support and authorize it."
A motion was passed for property and liability insurance for next year. According to the board, the property taxes have gone up 6.5% based on the increase of property and equipment values. A 13% overall premium increase. According to the memo, this comes with the additional coverages of terrorism coverage and cybercrime coverage up to $1,000,000 and drone coverage of up to a 25-pound aircraft for both drone training and acquisition of a drone.
"We did a detailed bid of all the insurers in Michigan that provide this kind of coverage [and] they have been excellent to work with," said Dale Kerbyson, Village Manager.
The Village was looking for a long term agreement for multiple years to lock in expenses but "couldn't do that due to our size and our previous track record with insurance issues," Kerbyson said.
"So after this third year, if we bid it next year, they will be able to give us a long-term three-year policy."
Concerns arose due to inconsistencies in the paperwork and the corrections needed in the packet: "We've got three properties located in Clare, Michigan on this list," said Schneider.
"It's the same thing I corrected last year. They clearly gave us the exact same listing packet and updated it from last year, and we had numerous corrections to street addresses, the way they're spelled."
A motion was passed with additional contingent corrections to the listed property coverages.
The next Almont village council meeting will be Tuesday, July 7 at 7:30 p.m.
