If nothing changes between now and Dec. 25, the old fire hall will no longer be insured by the Oxford Public Fire and EMS Commission.
A motion to continue insuring the vacant structure on W. Burdick St. (behind the township and village offices) was defeated last Wednesday night by village members of OPFEC.
Voting against renewing the insurance – which expires Dec. 25 – were village council members Steve Allen, Matt Weber, Dave Bailey and township trustee Jerry Dywasuk.
Voting to renew the insurance were village councilman George DelVigna and township board members Bill Dunn, Clara Sanderson, Joe Ferrari, Shirley Clancy, Charles Kniffen and Pat Fitchena.
In order to for a motion to be approved by OPFEC, a majority of both the village council and township board must vote in the affirmative.
“So let me get this straight, this thing went down,” Dunn said following the failed vote. “Who’s going to be at fault if we get sued, if somebody walks into that building and slips or slips outside of it?
“The building is fully insured right now,” Allen said referring to the fact that the village has its own separate policy covering the old fire hall.
Dywasuk, the lone township vote against renewing OPFEC’s policy, pointed out that village taxpayers are “paying for two sets of insurance for the same building.”
“You wonder why commissions like OPFEC do not work, here’s perfect example of it,” Dywasuk said.
Dunn noted the village’s insurance policy won’t cover OPFEC or the township should anything happen.
“The village – because of their no-vote – is denying the township the ability to have insurance on the building. That’s exactly what’s happening,” Dunn said. “With the village saying no, we are not as OPFEC going to have insurance and if we get sued for $1 million, the township is going to have to pay $820,000 and the village $180,000.”
The payment breakdown Dunn referred to is based on the 82-18 percent formula the township and village use to fund OPFEC.
“There’s something wrong here. There’s something terribly wrong,” Dunn said.
The failed vote to renew OPFEC’s insurance on the building is a result of the ownership dispute between the township and village over the old fire hall.
On July 1, the village, claiming 100 percent ownership, seized the vacant structure by changing the locks and placing the utilities under its name. The village claims its the sole titleholder to the old hall.
“Our claim is we (OPFEC) still own the building or own part of it,” Dunn said.
Kniffen argued that the safety authority must continue to pay insurance on the old hall in order to “provide further proof that OPFEC has ownership of that building.”
OPFEC’s not continuing the insurance is “tantamount to admitting you don’t have any interest in it,” Dunn said.
OPFEC attorney Chris Levois argued it would be in OPFEC’s best interest from a liability standpoint to continue insuring the old fire hall.
“To the extent there’s any color of title in OPFEC and OPFEC does not insure the building and anything happens to anybody, you got problems,” Levois said. “They will come after OPFEC as an uninsured entity. As long as OPFEC is presumed to have any kind of interest in this building, they’ll sue OPFEC and OPFEC won’t have any insurance.”
During the discussion, it was noted the fire department still has some equipment in the hall, including some “miscellaneous odds and ends” such as an old generator and truck parts.
Allen made a motion for the village to “add” OPFEC as a party on its insurance policy to cover the fire department property located in the building.
However, township officials noted that would only cover the equipment for OPFEC, not the building itself.
Allen’s motion failed with all seven township board members voting against it and four village council members voting in favor.
Dunn asked township Clerk Sanderson to place the old fire hall insurance issue on the next township board meeting agenda.