Insurance Rates Show Only Modest Increase

A rundown of East Hampton Village’s insurance policies, which are due to be renewed, and the impact of cellphone use while driving on insurance rates were topics at a meeting of the East Hampton Village Board on Friday. The board also asked the owners of the  house once owned by the Bouvier family to reduce the amount of vegetation in an easement so that the public could see the house.

George Yates of the Dayton Ritz and Osborne agency told the board that the renewal of the village’s policies reflected “only very modest changes” from the prior year, with annual premiums up $16,138, or slightly less than 5 percent, to $354,060. The overall message, Mr. Yates said, was “steady as she goes in terms of premiums, in terms of coverage.”

One change, however, is an increase in the cost of automobile insurance.  “Commercial auto is becoming a problem, particularly in the area of distracted driving. There are more and more accidents as a result of people on their personal communications devices,” Mr. Yates said. Although he suggested the board consider prohibiting village employees from using cellphones while operating municipal vehicles, after the meeting, Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, said the village already requires that employees operating village-owned vehicles comply with state laws, which require hands-free use of cellphones and prohibit texting.

Mr. Yates pointed out that the village had low flood insurance rates for its Sea Spray oceanfront cottages. Despite the flooding that occurred during hurricanes in 2011 and ’12, he said, “We’re getting a wonderful deal on many of the units that are being insured.” The cottages are rated as being in the lowest flood hazard area. “Sooner or later, somebody will have to pay the higher premiums,” he said, but because it is politically unpopular to raise municipal premiums, “the federal government, in their wisdom, continues to grandfather in those rates,” he said.

Another example is the insurance on the Main Beach pavilion. It is insured for $500,000 and carries an annual premium of $975. “It seems like a bargain to me,” Mr. Yates said, noting that the comfort station at Two Mile Hollow Beach is being insured for considerably less yet has a premium higher than $7,000. “I don’t know what the actuarial science is on that one, but those are the rates they tell us that we have to charge you.”

Premiums on liability insurance for the Fire Department and the ambulance corps rose from $10,282 to $12,588. This, Mr. Yates said, is a result of an increase in emergency calls from 1,919 to 2,457. “The more calls, the more chances of liability.”

 The former Bouvier family estate, which was the childhood summer home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, was designed by Arthur C. Jackson in 1917 and was once called the George Schurman House. Known by the Bouviers as Lasata, it is one of three side-by-side estates of the 1917 to 1930 period, which for many years defined the architectural character of construction on the dunes that extend from Egypt Lane east to Cross Highway, according to Robert Hefner, the village’s historic preservation consultant.

The property was before the board because its owners asked for the modification of a large-lot easement in which the boundary between 121 Further Lane and 40 Middle Lane was to be straightened. Both parcels are owned by Reed Krakoff, the designer and former creative director of Coach, and his wife, Delphine Krakoff, who is the founder of Pamplemousse, an interior design firm. Both have scenic easements across the width of their front property lines to allow the house, which is of architectural and historical interest, to be seen. The board approved the modification but found that the easement had become overplanted. As a condition of approval,  the Krakoffs must comply with a new vegetation plan for the easement that will maintain the view.

In other news, the board set Sept. 16 at 11 a.m. for a public hearing on a proposed law amending the village code so that license fees for services such as taxi and livery cabs, garbage removal, and cesspool maintenance will be fixed by resolution of the board rather than by amendments to village law. The current fee for licenses under this code is $100 per year, which is unchanged since 1994, Ms. Molinaro said.

The board also recognized the efforts on behalf of the village by Don Hunting, whose resignation from the planning board was accepted. Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. explained that Mr. Hunting was not in good health. “But I think I speak for the board of trustees, the village government, and residents of the village profusely thanking Don for the contribution that he’s made over the years to the planning board in conjunction with his historical knowledge. . . . Don cares very deeply about the village and for that we are all beneficiaries.”

“We’re in the waning days of summer,” the mayor said. “Before you know it, Labor Day is going to be here. Let’s put a smile on our face and welcome the visitors to our community. Not too long from now, we’ll have it back.”