Lighting strikes result in increase in property insurance deductible for Mississippi County

CHARLESTON -- Mississippi County's deductible for property insurance was raised from $1,000 to $2,500 per occurrence for 2008.

County Clerk Junior DeLay said during the regular County Commission meeting Thursday that a recent letter from MOPERM advised the deductible is being increased due to the number of claims exceeding $10,000 that have been presented over the last three years.

While the deductible was raised, "our rates haven't gone up," DeLay said.

The claims were mostly lightning strikes at the jail, many of which appear to be strikes through the radio tower, according to DeLay. He said one claim was for $30,000.

DeLay said G&D Communications reportedly put some protection in place about a year ago but there is additional protection it can add to the radio tower and phone lines for about $2,000. "It won't make it risk free but it will at least minimize it," he said.

"The policy will be reviewed each year by the underwriter to determine if that deductible will remain in force or they'll drop it back down to $1,000," DeLay said.

In other county business Thursday:

* Commissioners signed a consultant contract with Smith and Company of Poplar Bluff for drafting an airport layout plan.

In September, the county was approved for a grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation's State Aviation Trust Fund program for an update to the plan.

Presiding Commissioner Jim Blumenberg said county officials thought they had a plan to update but actually don't have one at all for the airport.

Rodger Williams of Smith and Company of Poplar Bluff said he has a copy of the construction plans from 1973, however.

Williams also provided a document outlining procedures for the grant and a sample letter for county officials to use in drafting a letter to MoDOT to send along with a copy of the consultant contract.

The county must have an updated airport layout plan for the airport to be eligible for grants, according to Williams.

"You guys are in line for a $300,000 grant between 2008 and 2012 to redo the runway," he said. This grant only requires a 5-percent match.

Williams said he doesn't think the grant will cover an extension of the runway. "I think it is just for rehabilitation," Williams said.

Commissioners agreed the runway needs work.

In unrelated news, Williams said Smith and Company is currently writing a preliminary engineering report for the proposed Ditch 14 improvement project Charleston is working on.

There is "a real good chance" the project could get funding, according to Williams.

In other business Thursday:

* The county road and bridge department has sealed 17 miles of blacktop so far, according to Blumenberg, and there is more sealing oil coming in.

"We might be able to get about everything sealed," he said.

Many of the county's blacktop roads that have been sealed or are slated to be sealed need repairs, Commissioner Homer Oliver said, but the sealing "may help get them through the winter."

Blumenberg said he would like to see another 15-20 miles sealed over the next month. "If the weather holds up, we'll get a lot of them," he said.

Blumenberg said the county's blacktop appears to be in good shape but the county's gravel roads are not.

* Oliver said the recent excavation work on Ditch 23 appears to have been effective.

"The water level in Ditch 23 looks really good," he said.

Oliver said he has seen beaver dams going up around the county, however. "They're getting ready for winter," he said.