Crawford County Commissioners heard Chase Marable, of Higginbotham Insurance, on Jan. 20, as he discussed the county’s insurance situation.

“So, last renewal, one of the priorities for us from the commission was to evaluate all properties in the county for replacement cost value,” Marable said.

They spent considerable time with Sheriff Darin Layman at the jail and the coroner’s office, reviewing maintenance, generators, and facilities. They measured and recorded key property details for all county-owned sites to determine accurate replacement costs.

“So what we found on this spreadsheet is that our current building values were just a bit undervalued based off of the current market and what it would cost to replace buildings today,” Marable said. “In addition to the building values, there was some contents value that was underinsured, notably in the jail and then the coroner’s office, that we need to update.”

Currently, the county pays a premium of $29,000 on $15.1 million in property value. Their estimated value change would be from $15.1 million to $23.6 million.

“So if we would like to purchase more insurance, we just purchase it at the same 52 cents per 1000,” Marable said.

With the higher property valuation, it would cost approximately an additional $8.4 million in insurance for county buildings and their contents, as well as an additional $16,081 to the annual premium.

“We also discussed just how to best maintain the properties from the corner and from the jail,” Marable said. “And I have to say, you guys do have a best-in-class maintenance program with the county.”

They checked the roads and generators, looked at their written contracts and subcontractors coming in, and made sure things like electrical systems and the fire suppression systems were up-to-date. 

County Clerk Kim Gibbs informed Marable that, for about $29,000, the assessor’s building got a new server that Higginbotham  Insurance needed to add.

Associate Commissioner of District 1 Mark Pfeiffer asked for the District 1 shed to be reevaluated.

“So the District 1 shed on Euclid Street, we have the recommended building as like $1.5 million and change...I can’t speak for Jared, but District 2’s shed is about $300,000 and some change less than that,” Pfeiffer said. “I don’t feel our building is as nice as theirs, so I don’t know why the price difference on District 1 shed versus, because ours is a concrete block building.”

Associate Commissioner of District 2 Jared Boast gave some possible reasons as to why District 1’s shed was valued at a higher price.

“It potentially could have to do with that it’s in the floodplain,” Boast said. “...Or it could be based on the square footage....”

Presiding Commissioner Steve Black said that another building needed to be looked at as well.

“We may want to look at the 702 South Franklin building, too: that building has been improved,” Black said. “It wasn’t at our cost, it wasn’t at the county cost.”

Black also asked if Marable could elaborate about the county’s current insurance policy that didn’t cover the type of flooding that occurred in Nov. 2025. Marable showed the commissioners a map of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) flood zone for the county buildings.

“And FEMA puts all of our county buildings in a flood zone,” Marable said. “In layman’s terms, that means that if there is going to be a chance of a flood, it’s going to most likely take over the buildings in which that, where we occupy.”

While the county had the incorrect flood insurance for its buildings, the auto policy for county vehicles didn’t have any flood exclusions.

“Because it’s common for autos to be covered during floods, so I think that paid out, let me see, $71,000 to repair totaled and or damaged autos as a result of the flood,” Marable said.

According to Marable, a few years ago, data from FEMA was pulled that showed the county has had six FEMA flood events dated back to 1994, which prompted the county to look at an insurance policy through FEMA that also covered flooding within a high risk flood zone.

“But the cost was prohibitive in order to purchase that policy,” Marable said. “And also, the FEMA flood zone policies will only cover the first $500,000 of damage. Anything above that is the county’s cost.”

He added that not only is the county in a high-risk flood zone, but it is also within a severe repetitive loss zone. It would mean that the county would pay the highest insurance premium for any of the county’s buildings that are deemed to be in that repetitive loss zone.

“I’m not sure what the cost is. I could estimate it would probably be in the $50,000 to $75,000 range in order to purchase $500,000 coverage from FEMA,” Marable said.

“I would like to add that in 2017, if that was when that was presented, there was no way that we could afford the premium because we couldn’t afford the premium we were paying, much less any additional premiums for flood,” Boast said.

Black explained that before he was a commissioner, the county found it challenging to “come up with that investment plan, or program, over a five-year period, but it is, the majority of it is still there.”

That was why the commission, during the Jan. 6 meeting, decided to self-insure the county at a rate of $50,000 per year, specifically against flooding.

“We’re not self-insuring anything other than flooding,” Boast said.

Marable commended the commission for having set aside money in an investment fund over the last five years to help protect against flooding.

“I think it was probably one of the smartest things that the county could have done,” Marable said.

“Well, it was a group of ideas, and it was all made possible by the taxpayers. They believed in our plan that we had and showed that at the polling place, and we were responsible with it,” Boast replied.

In other business, Loren Wilson was hired as the new Emergency Management Director.

“He’s well respected, well liked, very well versed in what he’s going to be dealing with already. So we got lucky,” Black said.

Wilson will be working as an independent contractor, and on Feb. 1, he will officially take over the position.