Insurance Requirements Vex Community Plans

You would think something as easy as “Hey, let’s all have an organized picnic in the park” would be simple, but insurance, fees and liability have proven to make such plans anything but. Last night’s Victory Heights Community Council meeting discussed a proposed neighborhood picnic in July to be held at the park until it was realized it would cost a minimum of $455 just for a four hour event (Park permits, plus $300 in required insurance). Instead, the Council is planning on an informal block party during the City’s annual Neighborhood Night Out on August 6th.
Read the complete Minutes of the April 16th meeting.
Insurance requirements also reared their ugly head when it was realized by the Victory Heights Co-operative Pre-School that their insurance does not extend to adults in the building they lease from the Parks Department, not even to their own staff! Questions about liability when we use the building for meetings have come up, and the Community Council may need to pony up for insurance or else face having to meet somewhere else (though there is no other suitable place in the neighborhood).
Other items discussed at the meeting included the city’s Spring Clean, reports from the Emergency Preparedness Committee, and the recent victory at the North District council to get a new traffic circle put in on 23rd Avenue NE.
Next month’s meeting agenda (Tuesday May 21st) will include a presentation from Sound Transit about the Link Light Rail south of Northgate, planning for the Night Out, and installing Little Free Libraries around the neighborhood similar to what Pinehurst has done.