The city of Pembroke is preparing for a Insurance Services Office (ISO) inspection that will determine how much property owners in the city will pay for fire insurance premiums.
“We will be receiving an ISO inspection at the end of February. We have a current rating of 4. I’ll let you know how it goes,” fire chief Peter Waters told the council at its monthly meeting Monday night.
A rating drop to a 3 would mean lower fire insurance premiums while an increase to a 5 would mean higher premiums. The rating considers a number of factors, including water availability and fire department equipment and personnel, when it determines the ISO rating.
The council also dissolved the Pembroke Hospital Authority, by resolution, Monday night.
Mayor Judy Cook said the city formed the hospital authority in the early 1970s to help the city and local health care providers obtain a rural health designation.
“As you know, we received a letter last month from the hospital authority that there is no reason for them to exist anymore. So we’ve prepared a resolution that dissolves the hospital authority board and that any property that they own or funds will be transferred to the city of Pembroke,” city attorney Dana Braun told the council.
Mayor Cook said health care providers are now able to obtain the rural health designation on their own, negating the need for the hospital authority. She also said the hospital authority had about $40,000 in its coffers that would be transferred to the city’s general fund.
The fire chief also told the council that his department was dealing with an ongoing issue with McFadden Place Apartments regarding gaining access to seniors apartments for after hour emergencies. He said the fire department had access to the building but was forced to disable the door locks on individual apartments if the resident was unable to answer the door.
Waters said he been forced to disable about 10 door locks over the past 10 years.
“We’ve been told it’s a matter of privacy,” Waters said.
City attorney Dana Braun said he would talk to McFadden’s attorney to see if they could find some common ground on the issue.
In other issues the city:
• Approved the liquor sales license for Food Lion, who recently purchased the Harvey’s grocery store.
• Increased the monthly commercial garbage cart fees from $11 to $13, beginning March 1.
• Reappointed Dave Williams, Charlotte Bacon and Bernadette China to the planning and zoning commission.