Fireworks!

The Haines Borough Assembly sits down with the Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, March 27, 5:45 PM to "study" the issue of assumption of liability for the 4th of July fireworks display.  The less formal Committee of the Whole (COW) structure has been tapped in order to fully understand  the March 1, 2012, request to the Assembly. The Chamber Board of Directors requested the Assembly to "consider taking on this responsibility because of the liability costs and insurance expenses incurred by the Chamber."  The Assembly may make a decision during its Regular Meeting later on the same evening.

Historically, the Chamber of Commerce has sponsored the 4th of July Fireworks with help from the Borough.  Last year, the Borough budgeted $3500.00 for the display.  This year, the Chamber Board of Directors unanimously voted to ask the Borough to take over the event.

The Mayor and the Chamber president, Ned Rozbicki, discussed the request in a series of emails, resulting in a draft MOU (Memorandum of Agreement) prepared by the Chamber outlining the shared responsibilities.  According to the MOU, the Chamber will continue to do all the tasks related to organizing and advertising and coordinating the event; but the Borough will be listed on the permits as the official sponsor.  This step will free the Chamber from either purchasing additional insurance coverage for this single event, or sponsoring an event for which it is carrying potentially inadequate liability insurance should there be an accident.

One reason that this seemingly simple request rises to the level of discussion it has is that the Assembly must consider the point of view of its own insurer.  Through the Manager, I requested information from the Borough's insurer regarding any impact of sponsoring the fireworks on our premium.  Jila Stuart, Haines Borough Chief Financial Officer, responded March 20, 2012.  Ms. Stuart writes:

I spoke with our insurance agent Joe Johnston. He sounded very uncomfortable with the Borough taking on liability for the fireworks display.  He said, "It probably won't increase your premium but it will definitely increase your liability exposure."  He also said, "Is this part of the Borough operation that you want to accept liability for?"  He questioned whether the Borough wanted to take on the exposure for the possibility of something going wrong with the display and there being a great deal of injury to people and property. He said in Ketchikan (where he lives) the City and Borough make a donation to the Lyon's Club who puts on the display.  I did a quick google search and I see that in Juneau, the CBJ similarly makes a donation to help make the fireworks happened. Joe suggested the Borough would be better off increasing the donation to the Chamber to offset the cost of their increased premium.

So, this seemingly simple request will take a little more thought to process.  That's why I have called a Fireworks COW!