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County staff recommends $5M pollution policy; commissioners vote to forward recommendation to county council
Summary
An insurance agent told Hancock County officials the county lacks robust pollution-site coverage and recommended a three-year $5 million policy (three-year cost about $67,005.74). The board voted to forward a favorable recommendation to county council for further action.
Hancock County commissioners voted Aug. 4 to forward a favorable recommendation to the County Council for a standalone site-pollution insurance policy after a detailed presentation from an insurance agent.
Brian Breeze of Walker Hughes Insurance told the board the county currently has effectively no broad pollution coverage following a move to higher self-insured deductibles and that a separate policy would protect county-owned facilities and event sites from expensive environmental claims. "The quote's gonna be based on 5,000,000 pollution liability," Breeze said when explaining the policy basis and limits. He described options ranging from $1 million to $5 million in coverage and explained a three-year locked price produced the best per-year rate.
Breeze flagged common exclusions (for example, PFAS-type contaminants) and said the policy could be tailored later for specific high-risk properties, including the salvage yard the county is considering acquiring. He also explained program mechanics and added that the three-year $5 million option would cost about $67,005.74 when surplus-line tax and brokerage fees are included and noted a 25% minimum earned premium if the county cancels soon after purchase.
After questions about deductibles, how the policy would interact with the county’s self-insured general-liability program and whether the liability committee should review the purchase, Commissioner [President] moved that the board send the insurance quote to county council with a favorable recommendation for the three-year option. The motion passed unanimously. The recommendation does not itself purchase coverage; the council will consider the formal appropriation and any contract terms.
What happens next: the County Council will receive the recommendation and decide whether to appropriate funds and authorize a procurement or contract for the coverage. The board record shows the commissioners asked staff and counsel to bring any final terms and procurement steps back to them and to clarify whether the salvage-yard purchase would require separate underwriting steps.
