The Ottawa City Commission is struggling on whether or not the city should continue to have flood insurance. Some commissioners are pushing for cancelling flood insurance and putting the annual cost of $137,000 into a reserve account to meet emergencies. The total dollar value of city buildings and contents are valued at around $96 million …meaning if a catastrophic flood were to occur, either the city would have to cough up that kind of money or let insurance do it. Commissioner Sara Caylor says thinking of having a $96 million reserve fund is absurd.
Some commissioners say that with the Levee system in place, the chances of a major flood are very low, and so paying for flood insurance may be a needless expense. Discussion of the matter will continue next week.
