The Crawford County Commission on Dec. 9 discussed that the flood plain insurance coverage is inadequate for the courthouse annex, the collector-assessor building, the health department and the Freeman Building.

​ Presiding Commissioner Steve Black said the county has already made an initial deposit on its flood insurance, but will have to make an additional payment to make the coverage adequate. 

“It would be...somewhere in the neighborhood...[of] $35,842 for just flood coverage on top of what we already paid to insure those buildings annually,” Black said.

Associate Commissioner Mark Pfeiffer of District One said a misunderstanding about what the insurance policy covers could lead to the county paying an additional $40,000 out of the annual budget to cover it. Commissioners assumed that when the policy said flood coverage, it would cover damage done by natural causes.

“We didn’t consider being in the flood plain or anything,” Pfeiffer said. “They’re calling flood coverage when your pipe breaks.”

Crawford County Clerk Karen Gibbs said the additional payment would cover the higher risk of flooding due to being in a floodplain.

“So it’s basically floodplain insurance, is what you’re saying,” Gibbs said.

Due to being underinsured, the county is covering its own cost of $360,000 in damages as a result of the misunderstanding, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) might reimburse about $112,000 of that amount.

The topic then shifted from the possibility of spending about $36,000 to $40,000 more annually for flood insurance or the county possibly self-insuring.

Visitors were questioning what would happen to the money put towards self-insuring. Should funds be allocated and never touched, or used with the possibility of something happening and being short?

Local pastor Andrew Keymann suggested putting $35,000 in a savings account, letting it accumulate until it has accrued a sizable amount, and then investing it. While the county cannot place money in stocks, it can place it in CDs.

Pfeiffer said it could take time.

“We still have to save the $300,000 or the $400,000, whatever’s in the deal, until we have spent ten years building that nest egg up into that, and we can start subtracting from that,” Pfeiffer said. “Obviously, if we need to use some money from that, after we start building it up, it would be fine. I would just caution against spending the savings on something.”

Local citizen Richard Jensen asked how commissioners would ensure the program’s longevity.

“What I’m wondering about is the four or eight or 12 years from now, when there’s a new clerk, new commissioners, there’s no way to guarantee that they know that that’s what it’s for, that they know the FEMA situation.

“Just hoping you guys can put something together where it’s a CD that’s labeled, that’s flood protection, or there’s a policy put in place that you can’t take this out of the budget unless you get insurance or something like that, so the future set of people will have the information,” Jensen said.

Commissioners agreed to revisit the topic of insuring through a company or moving to a self-insured policy once information is updated. Some investments will mature in March, potentially adding to county funds that could be used toward self-insurance.​​

In other business, Sheriff Darin Layman has resigned as Crawford County Emergency Management Director, effective Jan 1., due to a conflict of interest.

“You can’t hold two public offices at the same time as sheriff,” Layman said.

He only took the position in the first place because another sheriff had, but Layman’s trusted attorney advised that he submit his resignation.

Layman has made two candidate recommendations to take the position. One has said that they cannot accept the position due to current circumstances, and the second is currently considering the offer.