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Le Mars council directs staff to seek proposals for voluntary service-line protection program
Summary
Council authorized staff to issue an RFP for a voluntary property-owner service-line protection insurance program; the city's role would be marketing the program and receiving a monthly royalty per enrolled property.
The Le Mars City Council on May 19 authorized city staff to seek proposals for a voluntary property-owner service-line protection program that would offer coverage for exterior water lines, exterior sewer lines and in-home plumbing.
The chair explained the program would be offered by a private company and participation would be voluntary. "The program is insurance. Therefore, property owners would pay a monthly fee," the chair said. Councilors and the introduced speaker Rich said the city's involvement would be limited to partnership through marketing and that the city would receive a monthly royalty per participating property.
Supporters noted that partnering with a company could reduce costs and increase coverage compared with some individual policies; one councilor said similar programs in nearby towns had not caused problems getting reimbursements to customers. The council emphasized enrollment would not be required and there would be no minimum number of enrollees for the city to proceed.
Council voted to authorize staff to prepare and issue a request for proposals so officials could evaluate vendor offerings and return to the council with a recommendation. The council's action does not bind the city to select a vendor; a future firm decision will return to the council after staff review of proposals.
