Redevelopment authority approves September warrant, renews select insurance policies and moves to executive session

The Forwarder Redevelopment Authority on Sept. 24 approved its September warrant and authorized renewal of several insurance policies. The board then voted to enter executive session to discuss potential real estate transactions and to approve executive-session minutes from Aug. 27; the board stated it would not return to open session.

The board approved a warrant recorded in the meeting as $94,004.52. The vote was recorded with yes votes from Karen Erickson, Ron Russen, John Erickson and Joan Maderas. The meeting transcript shows an extended back-and-forth clarifying printed warrant figures before the board recorded the final amount.

Project manager Karen Martin told the board three insurance policies had recently renewed or were executed: directors-and-officers insurance was executed before the warrant was printed with an annual premium of $5,139, and two other property-related policies (covering the 600 Duval Street property and land coverage) were included in the warrant package for renewal. Martin said moving the D&O policy to Bay Coast Insurance produced an approximately $1,100 premium savings compared with the prior broker.

After completing open-session business, the chair made a finding that discussing real-estate negotiation strategy in executive session was necessary to avoid a detrimental effect on the Authority’s negotiating position. The board voted to enter executive session and recorded that they would not return to open session to finish the meeting.

No formal real-estate decisions were disclosed in open session prior to entering executive session.