Council approves CWLP property insurance contract; McMenamin protests no bid – Jun. 17, 2014

Jamie Munks
The State Journal-Register

The Springfield City Council on Tuesday approved a nearly $1.8 million contract with a local brokerage firm for insuring city-owned utility properties, but one alderman objected to not first soliciting proposals from other firms. In a 9-1 vote, aldermen approved a three-year contract with broker R.W. Troxell and Co. to insure 40 City Water, Light and Power properties. The contract calls for the city to pay the firm $1,766,900 for the first annual premium of the three-year commitment.

“It makes sense to shop around,” said Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin, who cast the lone vote against the contract. McMenamin called his dissent a “protest vote” to encourage the competitive bidding process in city contracts. Aldermen recently spent several months debating whether the city should have used a competitive process in procuring a contract to supply auto parts at the new consolidated garage scheduled to open later this year.

McMenamin said he spoke to representatives from other insurance companies, including one in Decatur, who said they wanted to bid on the Springfield contract.

R.W. Troxell is a Springfield-based insurance broker, and the contract calls for the firm to receive a 12 percent commission.

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The city’s current insurance policy for the CWLP properties runs out July 14, so some of the other aldermen urged a “yes” vote to be sure the insurance doesn’t lapse. Others said they were confident in the firm’s experience. Ward 5 Ald. Sam Cahnman said he understood McMenamin’s point, but, with the timeline the city is currently up against, he called it “irresponsible” to vote the contract down.

McMenamin agreed it would be “unacceptable” for the city to risk going uninsured, leading Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner to press him on how he could cast a “no” vote. It would be irresponsible “if all 10 of us voted ‘no,’ ” McMenamin said.

In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, the city council voted unanimously to eliminate sick-time payouts for all nonunion employees hired after July 1. The measure targets the sick-time payouts employees receive upon their retirement, or payouts their families receive when they die, but doesn’t change payouts for unused vacation time. City Budget Director Bill McCarty said last week that the city pays on average about $1 million annually in sick-time payouts to retiring employees.

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