Oxford Community Center, town come closer to an agreement

OXFORD — The Town of Oxford and the Oxford Community Center moved closer Tuesday to ending a months-long dispute over the center's lease, agreeing on insurance limits and most other terms.

However, one issue was left unresolved: whether outside vendors working events at the town-owned building must carry insurance naming the town.

Oxford commissioners did not vote at their Sept. 22 meeting. Instead, commissioners directed the town attorney to finalize a second amendment to the lease and a set of town use policies, while town and Community Center representatives meet separately with the town's insurer to work out vendor requirements.

Officials said the finalized documents could come back to the commissioners at their next meeting.

The discussion drew about 60 people and came days after the Community Center Board of Trustees published an open letter saying the town had proposed a "comprehensive rewrite" of the center's 99-year lease, now 46 years into its term.

The board wrote that some of the town's proposed changes, including a larger town role in approving events, went beyond what was needed and could make it harder to run programs and rentals.

The open letter said the center submitted a complete lease amendment June 19 and hoped for a resolution Sept. 22.

Commissioner Norm Bell opened Tuesday's discussion by proposing a guiding principle for both sides: "to protect the town, the OCC, and the public while preserving OCC's flexibility to serve the community." He said the town had no interest in running the center's programs.

OCC Board President Molly Sause said the board agreed with that principle and had already addressed the town's concerns on insurance and vendor contracts in June. She said the town had not responded to those documents before raising new issues.

Commission President Katrina Greer said the push to revise the lease came from the Local Government Insurance Trust, the pool that insures Oxford along with about 190 other Maryland local governments. The insurer, she said, wanted the town to shift risk to the people holding events at town property, including through insurance requirements and alcohol policies.

"We don't want to be involved in your day-to-day life," Greer said of the town's role in individual events.

By the end of the discussion, the two sides had agreed that:

The OCC will carry general liability coverage of $2 million per occurrence and $4 million aggregate, while people renting the facility will need $1 million and $2 million, rather than the higher limits the town had sought for renters.The OCC will provide a waiver of subrogation and increased damage-to-rented-premises coverage.The OCC will notify the town within 15 business days if it materially changes its use policies or rental agreement. Town attorney Lyndsey Ryan said the provision gives the town no authority to review or approve those forms.Insurance minimums for renters may be adjusted over time using an inflation index or industry standard, rather than the town's earlier proposal to revisit them as often as every three years.

Sause said they worried a future board of commissioners could raise renter requirements sharply. Town officials said they had the same concern about future OCC boards. Bell said the lease had to hold up "no matter who is there."

The remaining dispute centers on vendors. The town's insurer has recommended that any business or organization using the center provide a certificate of insurance listing the town. Sause said the OCC currently collects certificates only from caterers and that requiring them from performers, florists, DJs and others would be impractical. The town called the vendor issue new.

Town officials argued the requirement would cost insured businesses nothing.

"One orthopedic incident, one incident with alcohol, one crashed car," Greer said. "This mitigates our risk."

Sause also raised cost concerns for renters. She said a certificate of insurance a renter can currently obtain costs about $146, compared with up to $400 through an event policy offered through the town's insurer. Greer said a test quote with alcohol came in under $200. The center earns about $15,000 a year from outside rentals such as weddings and celebrations of life, Sause said.

Officials said a smaller group, including the town manager, one commissioner, attorneys for both sides and OCC leaders, will meet with the insurer to sort vendors into risk categories. Sause said existing contracts for events booked through 2026 would not be rewritten, though they could request certificates of insurance from those users.

Distributed by Newsbank, inc.