Dear Ms. Bowen:  

Your recent email to the City Council regarding the insurance requirements for rental of City facilities has been forwarded to me for review and action. I am the Revenue & Claims Manager for the City of Menlo Park.  

I was sorry to learn that you have had difficulty locating a provider of insurance for a feasible sum and are, therefore, thinking of not having your son's first birthday party at Nealon Park. I have an insurance contact that I have worked with in the past that should be able to provide you with the required coverage at a price no greater than $150. Please call me at 330-6644 if you are still interested in reserving the space.  

However, even if you have already made other arrangements, I would like to speak with you. I will be meeting with other staff members next week to discuss City insurance requirements and would appreciate learning more of about your concerns and experiences with our program, in addition to any suggestions you might have on improvements.  

Further, I want assure you that the insurance requirement is not intended to make the reservation process exclusionary for renters. All residents have equal access to City facilities. Even though, it may be true that for a fee of $25 some homeowners can obtain the required certificate of insurance extending their homeowners coverage to include special event coverage, this is only the case if their homeowner's policy already provides coverage at the million dollar level. The $25 cost is typically not a premium payment to increase coverage, but it is a fee charged for providing the required certificate naming a City as an additional insured. Also, if a homeowner's current liability coverage limit is not one million dollars it is entirely possible that their insurance company would require a payment of $300 to $500 to increase the policy limit.  

Finally, my prior research into the insurance requirements of other cities does show that most require the same level of insurance for facility rentals as Menlo Park. This is done to reduce liability exposure and City insurance costs. For the meeting next week I will be re-surveying those cities to determine if their requirements have changed.  

Again, I would appreciate an opportunity to speak with you regarding this matter.    

Sincerely,  

John P. McGirr

Revenue & Claims Manager   Received on Fri Mar 7 09:04:52 2008