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HomeMy WebLinkAbout22. 12-238 MAY 9, 2012 12-238 RESOLUTION (CARRIED__7-0_____ LOST _______ LAID OVER _______ WITHDRAWN _______) PURPOSE: AMEND SPECIAL EVENTS INSURANCE POLICY REGARDING INSURANCE FOR PARTICIPANTS IN ATHLETIC EVENTS INITIATED BY: CITY ADMINISTRATION WHEREAS, the Common Council for the City of Oshkosh has previously adopted insurance requirements for Special Events when requiring a Special Events permit from the City of Oshkosh; and WHEREAS, the current policy requires coverage for athletic participants which may be difficult or impossible for some special events to obtain; and WHEREAS, the City wishes to balance the need to protect the City from claims related to private activities occurring on city property or requiring extraordinary services from the City with support for special events occurring within the community. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Common Council of the City of Oshkosh that the attached Special Event Insurance Requirements are hereby adopted and all previous requirements are hereby repealed. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the attached Special Event Insurance Requirements shall apply to all special events required to obtain a special event permit for events occurring on and after the date of passage of this Resolution. CITY HALL 215 Church Avenue P.O.Box 1130 Oshkosh,Wisconsin Ci• 54903-1130 ty of Oshkosh O.IHKOIH TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council FROM: Lynn A. Lorenson, City Attorney DATE: May 3, 2012 RE: Resolution to Amend Special Events Insurance Requirements BACKGROUND The City of Oshkosh had established insurance requirements for persons wishing to use city facilities for special and private events for many years. In March 2010, the Common Council adopted a Special Events ordinance and in conjunction with that ordinance adoption, reviewed and updated the City's insurance requirements for Special Events. Changes to the insurance requirements went into effect on January 1, 2011 to coincide with the effective date of the Special Events Ordinance. Throughout the course of our first year of reviewing events several small issues have arisen in relation to the insurance requirements. In most cases these issues have been fairly easily resolved. Recently, an event had difficulty complying with the city's requirement that athletic participants in events not be excluded from coverage. Based upon further review and research related to this, staff is proposing that the Council amend the insurance requirements to eliminate this requirement. ANALYSIS City staff recently worked with an event organizer who was having difficulty meeting the city's requirement that participants in athletic competitions not be excluded from insurance coverage. In that particular case, staff was able to put the event organizer in contact with a runner's organization and the organizer was able to obtain the required insurance. However, while reviewing that event, it came to staff's attention that there had likely been other events which also did not comply with the requirement, but simply had not indicated the exclusion for participants on the insurance certificate which was submitted to the City. It also appears likely that the event organizers may not have even been aware of this exclusion in their policies, since it was not highlighted in any manner. Staff contacted the City's insurance consultant, a local insurance agency who handles a number of events held within the city and also spoke with individuals from other municipalities who were also reviewing their insurance requirements related to this same issue. The information gathered from all of these sources indicates that while most of the requirements of the current policy are easily complied with, the requirement that participants in athletic events and contests not be excluded from coverage is difficult for event organizers to comply with. Because of the inherent risk of injury while participating in an athletic contest or event, most insurance policies exclude participants in athletic events from coverage. Most events also require a waiver from the individuals participating in the events. Staff was able to find two sources for coverage which included participants for running events. In order to take advantage of that coverage, those organizations required a small fee to join their organization and then provided access to their group coverage. For running events, this may be an option that they may wish to consider. In addition to the insurance coverage the organizations provide access to other information and networking for running events. For fishing tournaments, staff was able to find one source for coverage, although the fee for joining this organization was substantially higher than the fee for the running events and may be cost prohibitive for smaller tournaments in particular. While obviously requiring this coverage to be included provides the best protection to the City in the event there is a claim made for injuries of a participant, the difficulty of obtaining this type of insurance coverage and the additional costs associated with it may ultimately require staff to either ignore the requirement or event organizers to not hold their event. While staff did consider the option of requiring waivers from participants naming the City of Oshkosh as well as the event organizers, the practical difficulties of obtaining copies of those waivers and reviewing them, and concern for the appearance of the City organizing or sponsoring the event, suggest that this is not a viable option. Eliminating the requirement does expose the City to additional risk of cost associated with defending claims that may be brought. However several things mitigate this risk. There are a number of defenses that are potentially available to the City and each event organizer is required to sign an indemnification and hold harmless agreement for their event which would apply to any litigation related to the event. In addition, staff is proposing to notify event organizers that they should be examining the proposed routes or grounds prior to any event. Many events already examine their routes prior to events so this would not impose an additional burden upon them and would give the organizer and the City the opportunity to identify any potential issues prior to the event. In addition to the change related to coverage of athletic participants, staff is proposing three minor changes related to updating the terminology related to the rating of the insurance carriers, requiring that the certificate of insurance be filed with the City Clerk, and waiving the requirement that the City be listed as an additional insured on policies for governmental and educational organizations such as the school districts and University. These organizations, like the City, typically have difficulty adding additional insureds to their policies and given the nature of the organizations, city staff is recommending that this requirement be waived for these types of organizations. It is important to note that the organizations will still provide insurance coverage, it is simply the requirement that the City be listed as an additional insured that is suggested for change. FISCAL IMPACT There is no direct fiscal impact related to these changes, however there may be indirect costs if claims are brought against the City. This proposed resolution does not change the basic premise that event organizers are required to be responsible for any risk associated with their event. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the proposed changes to the Special Event Insurance Requirements be approved. Res•ectfully Submitted, Approved: ■ ler 1i Lynn A . Lorenson Mark A. Rohloff City Attorney City Manager CITY OF OSHKOSH INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS SPECIAL EVENT INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS All sponsors, organizations, or any other person or group scheduling a special event shall procure at their expense, a policy of insurance subject to the following minimum requirements. The decision as to whether and what level of insurance shall be required shall be made by the City Manager upon consultation with the Department/Division Head and City Attorney and will be based upon the nature of the activity and the risk involved. I. Low Risk Events Insurance will not be required for Low Risk Events and no hold harmless agreement will be required. Low Risk Events includes only those events at which there is no sale of food or other merchandise, which do not involve an alcohol beverage permit/license, which have no planned competitive physical events, and which anticipate the attendance of 250 or less persons. Some examples of low risk activities are block parties, small theatrical performances, and private gatherings such as weddings. II. Medium Risk Events Medium Risk Events include only events which include the sale of food or other merchandise, but which do not involve an alcohol beverage permit/license and which anticipate attendance of 5000 or fewer persons. Some examples of Medium Risk activities are farmers markets, parades with no animals, art fairs, flea markets, run/walks of 5K or less distance, car or motorcycle shows, and fishing tournaments. Medium Risk Events Insurance Requirements The insurance as required by the City of Oshkosh is primary coverage and any insurance or self insurance maintained by the City of Oshkosh, its officers, council members, agents, employees or authorized volunteers will not contribute to a loss. All insurance shall be in full force prior to commencing the event and remain in force throughout the entire event, including the clean up period after the event. 1. GENERAL LIABILITY COVERAGE A. Commercial General Liability (1) $500,000 each occurrence limit (2) $500,000 personal injury and advertising injury (3) $500,000 general aggregate (4) $500,000 products —completed operations aggregate B. Claims made form of coverage is not acceptable. C. Insurance must include the following: (1) Premises and Operations Liability (2) Contractual Liability (3) Personal Injury (4) Products/Completed Operations (5) The general aggregate must apply separately to this event 2. BUSINESS AUTOMOBILE COVERAGE — If this exposure shall exist: A. $250,000 each person /$500,000 each accident for bodily injury and $100,000 for property damage OR $500,000 combined single limit for bodily injury and property damage each accident. B. Must cover liability for"any auto" — including owned, non-owned and hired automobile liability. 3. WORKERS COMPENSATION AND EMPLOYERS LIABILITY— If required by Wisconsin State Statutes, the event organizer: A. Must carry coverage for Statutory Workers Compensation and Employers Liability limit of: (1) $100,000 Each Accident (2) $500,000 Disease Policy Limit (3) $100,000 Disease— Each Employee 4. AIRCRAFT LIABILITY (including helicopter) — owned, non-owned or hired. A. If this exposure shall exist, the limits must be at least $5,000,000 combined single limit for bodily injury (injury passenger liability) and property damages. B. Any liability exclusions relating to slung cargo must be deleted. III. High Risk Events High Risk Events are events which include any of the following: 1) which involve an alcohol beverage permit/license, 2) which anticipate attendance of more than 5000 persons, 3) which involve fireworks or any other form of explosive device, 4) which include bonfires or other open fires, 5) which include amusement rides, 6) events with any type of aircraft or helicopter, or 7) events with live animals. Some examples of High Risk activities are carnivals, parades with live animals, marathons/runs/walks of more than 5K in distance, bike/motorcycle or snowmobile rides or races, concerts, dances, and animal shows. High Risk Events Insurance Requirements The insurance as required by the City of Oshkosh is primary coverage and any insurance or self insurance maintained by the City of Oshkosh, its officers, council members, agents, employees or authorized volunteers will not contribute to a loss. All insurance shall be in full force prior to commencing the event and remain in force throughout the entire event, including the clean up period after the event. 1. GENERAL LIABILITY COVERAGE A. Commercial General Liability (1) $1,000,000 each occurrence limit for Bodily Injury and Property Damage (2) $1,000,000 personal injury and advertising injury (3) $1,000,000 general aggregate (4) $1,000,000 products—completed operations aggregate B. Claims made form of coverage is not acceptable. C. Insurance must include the following: (1) Premises and Operations Liability (2) Contractual Liability (3) Personal Injury (4) Products/Completed Operations (5) The general aggregate must apply separately to this event 2. BUSINESS AUTOMOBILE COVERAGE — If this exposure shall exist: A. $250,000 each person /$500,000 each accident for bodily injury and $100,000 for property damage OR $500,000 combined single limit for bodily injury and property damage each accident. B. Must cover liability for"any auto" — including owned, non-owned and hired automobile liability. 3. WORKERS COMPENSATION AND EMPLOYERS LIABILITY— If required by Wisconsin State Statutes, the event organizer: A. Must carry coverage for statutory workers compensation and employers liability limit of: (1) $100,000 Each Accident (2) $500,000 Disease Policy Limit (3) $100,000 Disease— Each Employee 4. AIRCRAFT LIABILITY (including helicopter) — owned, non-owned or hired. A. If this exposure shall exist, the limits must be at least $5,000,000 combined single limit for bodily injury (injury passenger liability) and property damages. B. Any liability exclusions relating to slung cargo must be deleted. ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS WHEN INSURANCE IS REQUIRED Additional Insured Requirement — For general liability coverage, business automobile liability coverage, and aircraft liability, the following must be listed as additional insureds: City of Oshkosh, and its officers, council members, agents, employees, and authorized volunteers. This requirement is waived for UW-Oshkosh, Fox Valley Technical College, Oshkosh Area School District, and the Unified Catholic Schools of Oshkosh, and any other educational/municipal organizations that are similar. The City of Oshkosh requires 30 day written notice of cancellation, non-renewal or material change in the insurance coverage be given to the City Clerk— City of Oshkosh. The insurance coverage required must be provided by an insurance carrier with the A.M. Best rating of no less than A- and a Financial Size Category of no less than Class VI and who are authorized as an admitted insurance company in the state of Wisconsin. The certificate of insurance shall be satisfactory proof of insurance of said policies and shall be filed at the office of the City Clerk for the City of Oshkosh a minimum of ten (10) business days prior to the scheduled event. If these requirements are not met, the event cannot be held on city property.