Taxpayers are on the hook to repair the North Grenville Municipal Centre. A van drove into the building on October 19. The cost is about $16,000.
Director of Parks and Recreation Mark Guy provided an update to Committee of the Whole last night. He says a structural engineer took a look and there is no structural damage to the building. A contractor has been hired to do the work in about a month. The money will come out of the municipal contingency fund.
The municipality’s insurance has a $25,000 deductible, so the repairs will not be covered. Â
Guy says the priority is to get the hole fixed as soon as possible.
Members of council asked staff why the driver’s insurance would not be covering the cost.
CAO Brian Carré explained the incident happened in a parking lot, so no fault insurance comes into play. He says there may be options to pursue the driver’s insurance company, but there would be legal costs that could exceed $16,000.
Carré says the insurance policy clearly states that if the loss is less than the deductible, the municipality is responsible for the cost.
Council asked staff to look into whether it would be possible to pursue the driver’s insurance company to recover costs down the road. The municipality will push forward with building repairs in the meantime. The final vote on the matter is set for Monday night.