By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
The East Troy Community School District will not be insuring the Sidewalk Chalk-Art Festival on May 5 and 6. The district will only be insuring the students and teachers who will be on the Village Square on May 5 to create the sidewalk art.
Officials from the School District contacted the Village of East Troy, Timms and the newspaper on Friday night to say that the only coverage the district would be supplying was its students and teachers during the field trip to Village Square Park.
“Upon speaking with our insurance representative, Mr. Kevin Miller of M3 Insurance, Randy Timms and I spoke today to clarify the scope of the event and the district responsibility related to insurance coverage since some of our students would be attending,” School District Superintendent Chris Hibner stated in an email on Monday. “… the school district’s insurance affords coverage for each student and teacher(s) while attending the festival as part of the field trip. Coverage is not afforded for student injuries unless the school district is negligent in causing those injuries.”
Hibner also said the school district’s insurance will not cover the general community or individuals attending the festival.
On Monday, Timms said that was what he told the Village Board on Feb. 20. He said the only insurance coverage the two-day event needed was for the students and teachers because the Saturday activity was only going to be visiting artists bringing their easels to paint and draw, which would be no different than a family coming to the park for a picnic. Timms said Village Attorney Linda Gray told the board at the Feb. 20 meeting insurance wasn’t needed for activities in a public park that didn’t charge admission.
“Linda Gray explained that if they come and set up on the square it’s no difference than anyone one who would show up, in fact that’s how I met them, they were just out there painting. It’s just like how you don’t need insurance to have your lunch on the square,” Timms said.
Timms also said the artists from the Milwaukee Plein Air Club and Milwaukee Sketch Club he invited might not even come to the festival on May 6, as there had been no confirmation at this time.
The sticking point with all this is that the Village Board approved the festival on the condition that the School District would provide insurance for the event, not just when the students and teachers are there.
Village ordinance requires events to have insurance, even those in public parks. One example is the East Troy Area Chamber of Commerce, which hosts multiple events throughout the year at Village Square Park, from simple tree decorating by the kids at Christmastime to the Bluegrass Festival, all of which require a certificate of insurance to protect the village from liability.
Timms said on Tuesday morning that it was his opinion that the board approved the festival under the context that the School District would provide insurance for May 5 and that insurance wasn’t needed for May 6, as per what Attorney Gray had said. However, Village Administrator Eileen Suhm said Tuesday morning the motion was to approve with proof of insurance from the School District for the event.
Timms said he would ask Suhm to put the matter on the agenda for the March 6 meeting so the board could clarify what it wanted in terms of insurance.
“I can cancel the second day, that might be the solution to all of this,” Timms said Tuesday morning. “We can fix this at the next meeting. I’ll ask for clarification on the motion. I can cancel the second day if the motion was specifically referring to providing insurance for Saturday, too.”
As of press time, Attorney Gray had not responded to requests for clarification on whether the village was at risk if one of the invited artists was injured during the second day of the event while they were on the square painting or if not providing event insurance for both days was in violation of village ordinance.
The East Troy Village Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 6, at Village Hall, 2015 Energy Drive. This issue is on the agenda.
