The city added an additional insurance policy to make sure damage to the building is covered.
By: Linda Seida
LAMBERTVILLE The city’s new Justice Center took a major hit in the flooding that destroyed much personal and public property in the first weekend of April, but the city discovered afterward it lacked adequate flood insurance.
Destroyed by the flood were the chairs behind the dais used by city officials, the carpeting, the hallway tile flooring and all the doors. All the sheetrock and insulation to a height of about 2 feet had to be removed. Electrical outlets had to be removed and replaced as did some of the tiles in the bathrooms. The chairs used by audiences who attend city meetings had to be cleaned and disinfected.
No one is quite sure how the city bought an insurance policy that calls for a $250,000 deductible twice as much as is needed to clean up after the April flood. But as the city’s highest official, Mayor David Del Vecchio has taken a "buck stops here" stance and outlined steps the city is taking to ensure such a costly oversight does not happen again.
"I take full responsibility of the insurance issue as the mayor," Mayor Del Vecchio said Tuesday. "I’m the mayor. That’s the beginning and the end of the story. It stops with me."
The South Union Street structure was converted from an old Acme grocery store at a cost to the city of more than $1 million. It opened for meetings of the City Council and the planning and zoning boards less than a year ago. The building also houses the municipal court, which has been moved temporarily to the West Amwell Township building. West Amwell is not charging the city for use of its township building.
Early this year, the New Jersey Department of the Treasury gave the city $100,000 to wire the building to allow the cable broadcast of official functions as well as upgrades to the lighting and sound systems that would have allowed audiences to better view presentations.
Now the grant money will be used, instead, to fix up the building for use again. The cost to rehab the brand new interior is $105,000, according to Mayor Del Vecchio. Already, the city has poured an additional $20,000 into cleaning it up after floodwaters damaged the interior.
"There are four things to know about this," Mayor Del Vecchio said. "Number one, I’m not sure what went into the decision" regarding buying the flood insurance. "Number two, we have to do work to fix the place up. We have it funded without using tax dollars."
Twenty-five thousand dollars is coming from the Joint Insurance Fund, which wrote the insurance policy. Although the deductible is $250,000, the JIF "is trying to assist us in anyway they legally can," said City Clerk Lori Buckelew. The remaining $100,000 is coming from the state Treasury grant.
Mayor Del Vecchio continued, "Number three, we’re addressing the future."
The city has purchased an additional flood insurance policy that lowers the city’s deductible.
"Number four, we’re in the process now of getting people in to review and analyze all our insurance policies to make sure they’re appropriate," he said. "We’re looking to analyze all of our policies so that way we have an independent analysis of it so that way we know we’re in good shape."
The decision to purchase the original insurance policy was made by commissioners appointed to the Somerset County Joint Insurance Fund. Ms. Buckelew is the city’s commissioner, but she was hired last summer after the insurance was purchased. She said she does not know the details that went into the decision to purchase the flood coverage.
Ms. Buckelew said the city now has purchased an additional policy for $4,509 that holds the city’s deductible at $5,000. The Justice Center will be covered for $500,000. Additionally, there’s $100,000 coverage on the building’s contents.

