Insurance, co-op save NK $620K in costs related to cyberattack

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — The dark storm cloud of a cyberattack last April on the town's financial systems has a silver lining in November that protects taxpayers from significant costs to address the issue.

Town Manager Ralph Mollis reported to Town Council members that he expects a bill of nearly $624,000, but the town will only pay about $2,500 and the remainder will be picked up by insurance and other reimbursements.

"As a result, we've received $47,500 from The Trust and $94,970 to date from our Insurance Company. We continue to aggressively pursue the remainder of our claim," Mollis said in his recent report to the Town Council.

"While our deductible is $50,000, due to our membership within the R.I. Interlocal Trust, they cover everything except for $2,500 of our deductible," he said recently, referring to the municipal and state risk-management cooperative.

In June, town officials said they expected that costs related to the April cyberattack would soar past $245,000 accrued by that point. They also anticipated the town would be compensated for the outlay.

The town has insurance policies that paid for a forensic audit to check for stolen information or malicious code inserted into the systems. It also hired a data privacy attorney to ensure personal information is safeguarded and proper legal steps taken for any violations found.

Envision Technology Advisors of Pawtucket has worked on a detailed analysis of the systems. Harford-headquartered law firm Robinson and Cole and Envision studied the town's legal liability issues and sent notices to individuals about the breach.

"It appears we've been very fortunate, to date, thanks to the hard work of multiple staff and years of preparation and fortification. We've implemented significant upgrades and improvements to our system since the attack," he has told the Town Council and mentioned often during interviews about the attack.

He also advised the council last week that the town officially withdrew the proposed community center grant application with the state. The funds would have supported the development of the recently defeated recreation and emergency shelter bond.

By nearly a 2-to-1 margin, 61% of voters said no to a middle school and public safety complex, and 64.4% turned down a proposal for an indoor recreational center and emergency services shelter.

Chelsey Dumas-Gibbs, recreation director, explained the need for the new indoor recreation center with a $25 million bond up for consideration.

"The top-level benefit and promise to the community is that this center is not just about sports or physical activity," she said.

"While we will have a state-of-the-art sports complex, we will also have a computer lab and a kitchenette, offering health and wellness classes, theatre, dance, gymnastics as well as expansion on educational and technological programming, Dumas-Gibbs explained.

She said with the nature and definition of recreation in flux, the courts and the rooms are multipurpose.

Mollis said last week, though, that the project is not officially dead yet.

"We also have Appropriation requests with our federal (congressional) delegation for this project. I will be following up with them as I expect these appropriations are still applicable for a potential future project," he said.

New Fire Engine

The town also has a new fire truck, which has been 18 months in stages for design and manufacturing.

In October, the town received a 2023 Spartan MetroStar/Smeal 1500/750 for Engine 5. It cost $678,000 when ordered and today, if ordered, would have a nearly $1 million price tag, Fire Chief Scott Kettelle said.

He said that the planning for a purchase takes about four to six months, including design work, meeting with vendors and producing a bid specification of 100 pages.

Since the pandemic, fire apparatus manufacturers have been facing supply chain issues and have construction and delivery times of 18 months and sometimes up to 48 months.

"The cost of emergency vehicles is continuously rising," the chief said.

The old Engine 5 that has been replaced has over 170,000 miles and over 12,000 hours on the truck. This truck will now go into reserve status to be used when other trucks are down for maintenance.

The original Engine 5 was a 2008 HME/Ferrara and was placed in service in 2008 when the Slocom Fire Station opened.

The new truck has a 1,500-gallon per minute (GPM) pump and a 750-gallon water tank. It is also equipped with a foam cell system that is state of the art for certain fires involving flammable liquids.

The Spartan MetroStar is a popular choice for fire departments because it is a reliable and versatile truck. According to fire industry officials, it is also one of the most affordable fire trucks on the market.

Kettelle said a new feature added to this unit is a master pump intake control. On the existing fleet, this device is an add-on and requires maintenance and replacement every few years.

This new truck has it built in and should alleviate the cost and downtime associated with the add-on devices.

The Smeal 1500/750 is a specific model of the Spartan MetroStar. Industry officials said it is a popular choice for fire departments that need a pumper truck with a large water tank and a powerful pump.

"The North Kingstown Fire Department apparatus replacement plan has a goal of replacing first line fire engines at the 15-year mark and then placing them into reserve status for 10-plus years as needed," the chief said.

The truck will be part of the fleet of engine trucks, a ladder truck and reserve vehicles garaged at stations throughout the town.