Council changes liability insurance provider

The Hope Town Council opted to go with a new provider for its liability insurance saving money but also cutting out a business on the Town Square. 

The normally matter-of-fact choice for a liability insurance provider became a months-long process and sometimes angry dispute with councilman Clyde Compton and Clerk-Treasurer Diane Burton on one side and Councilman Ohmer Miller and Jake Miller, owners of Miller Insurance, on the other. 

The original goal was to try and save money on the insurance, which last week's choice did achieve--- more than $13,000 in savings over last year.  

Last month, Miller Insurance, the town's insurance broker brought back bids from six companies, but the council decided to wait for a seventh bidder. That bidder missed the council-set deadline for submissions, but that turned into a dispute over whether Miller Insurance had provided the necessary documentation to their competitor, so they could meet the deadline. The Millers said they had been responsive, but Burton said they had not. Jake Miller called the city government unprofessional for the way it was conducting the insurance search, which angered Compton.

At their meeting last week, Compton made a  motion to accept the bid from Astra Insurance Group, a bid solicited by Miller Insurance, but also to cut Miller Insurance out as the broker and agent of record. Instead, Compton recommended HBG Insurance and Bonds as the agent of record. 

With Ohmer Miller abstaining from the vote due to his conflict of interest as a council member and Miller Insurance owner, the council deadlocked with Compton and Jerry Bragg voting for his motion and council members Ed Johnson and Nellie Meek voting against the proposal. Burton cast the tie-breaking vote, choosing Compton's proposal. 

Before calling for the vote, Johnson, the council president, said he was heartsick over the decision to cut out the local agency. 

"I feel like we are trying to make this town better," Johnson said. "We are trying to make this town a friendly place to be and we are trying to do what is right. And I feel like that this is a big, big slap in the face for a man who is trying to get a business going. We want new businesses in town and here we are, hitting him in the head with this right away. I think that is not a credible way of doing business." 

The Astra base bid, using Great American Insurance Group, was $30,425 with an additional $1,367 for cyber liability. Compton said the town paid $45,120 for the insurance last year, a savings of $13,328.

At a work session earlier this month, Ohmer Miller said that if the town took one of his company's bids and gave the business to another bidder, he would never bid for the town's insurance needs again.