Colonial Beach schools to get $1.8 million settlement

Sept. 03--The Colonial Beach school system will receive $1.8 million from its insurance company in a settlement from a January fire that destroyed the town's old high school building.

The town's School Board voted Tuesday to accept the settlement, which is less than the initial claim the company denied in April.

The School Board's insurance company, Virginia Association of Counties Group Self-Insurance Risk Pool, made the offer last week after nine hours of mediation with School Board Chairman Tim Trivett.

The settlement comes after a disagreement between the insurance company and the School Board concerning the status of the burned building.

In April, VACoRP rejected the School Board's$2,443,864 proof of loss claim for the fire damage.

At the time of the fire in January, the school building housed thousands of dollars' worth of school materials.

No students had used the building since September 2011, when the town's building official ruled the building was unsafe for use.

However, he gave permission to Trivett for the school system to use the building for storage, Trivett said.

When VACoRP officials rejected the claim for the fire damage, they stated in a letter they were unaware of the building's unsafe conditions, and would not have insured it if they had known. However, Trivett said they were made aware after a renewal with the insurance company in 2012-13.

The settlement money will be used to pay back the town for funding the elementary school students' move after the fire put them in a collapse zone.

The Town Council was seeking a bond to fund the elementary school's move into modular units on the high school campus, but the insurance settlement could cover the rest of the costs.

Trivett said he will know for sure after the School Board pays its attorney and finds out what they owe the town.

A public hearing is set for Sept. 11 to discuss the bond.

Trivett said he was glad the situation is now over.

"I think we won the game," he said.

Regina Weiss 540/374-5444

[email protected]

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