ML Fire Chief says city insurance rating has improved
CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 3 months AGO
Moses Lake’s main fire station on E. Third Avenue. At last Tuesday’s meeting of the Moses Lake City Council, Fire Chief Brett Bastian told council members the city’s community rating — which is used to help determine insurance rates — has improved, in large part because of the department’s investment in new equipment.
Charles H. Featherstone
MOSES LAKE — Renters and homeowners in Moses Lake are likely going to see their insurance rates go down in 2023 following an improvement in the city’s community rating, according to Moses Lake Fire Chief Brett Bastian.
“They looked at everything, and we significantly improved from the last time,” Bastian told council members at a regular meeting on Tuesday. “We moved to a four from a five, mostly due to new equipment.”
By “they,” Bastian was referring to the Seattle-based Washington Surveying and Rating Bureau, a private, nonprofit company that helps both insurance companies and policy holders evaluate risk. The company not only reviewed the city’s fire department and its training and equipment, but also examined the city’s water supply, the county’s 911 service and the city’s building code in order to reach its final community score.
“We do a complete evaluation of a community, and the fire department plays a role, but the city water system, fire hydrants, 911 service, fire codes and building code are all evaluated,” said Robert Ferrell, WSRP vice president of public protection.
Ferrell said Moses Lake’s fire department, building code and water system and the county’s 911 response all improved from the previous evaluation.
In its 2022 budget, the city is set to spend roughly $4.9 million on fire protection, the third-largest item in the city’s $30.9 million budget behind police ($9.8 million) and the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department ($7.3 million).
The community rating, which is based on a 1-10 score, with one being the best and 10 being no coverage at all, goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, and will affect renter, homeowner and business fire insurance rates written after that date.
“Going to a four will help the rates,” said Chris Arnberg, an agent with American Family Insurance in Moses Lake. “It’s good to see them expand their equipment to deal with the emergencies that come up.”
Arnberg said the improvement in the community rating will provide a little relief to homeowners who have seen their insurance go up in response to the rapid rise in home values in the last few years.
“It’s definitely a positive for a growing community,” he said.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at [email protected].
CORRECTION: The original story misquoted Bastian about the direction of the change in the community rating and misstated the City of Moses Lake's 2022 budget, and has been corrected above.
ARTICLES BY CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE
Potato prices up, sales down for first quarter 2023
DENVER — The value of grocery store potato sales rose 16% during the first three months of 2023 as the total volume of sales fell by 4.4%, according to a press release from PotatoesUSA, the national marketing board representing U.S. potato growers. The dollar value of all categories of U.S. potato products for the first quarter of 2023 was $4.2 billion, up from $3.6 billion for the first three months of 2022. However, the total volume of potato sales fell to 1.77 billion pounds in the first quarter of 2023 compared with 1.85 billion pounds during the same period of 2022, the press release noted. However, total grocery store potato sales for the first quarter of 2023 are still above the 1.74 billion pounds sold during the first three months of 2019 – a year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the press release said.
WSU Lind Dryland Research Station welcomes new director
LIND — Washington State University soil scientist and wheat breeder Mike Pumphrey was a bit dejected as he stood in front of some thin test squares of stunted, somewhat scraggly spring wheat at the university’s Lind Dryland Research Station. “As you can see, the spring wheat is having a pretty tough go of it this year,” he said. “It’s a little discouraging to stand in front of plots that are going to yield maybe about seven bushels per acre. Or something like that.” Barely two inches of rain have fallen at the station since the beginning of March, according to station records. Pumphrey, speaking to a crowd of wheat farmers, researchers, seed company representatives and students during the Lind Dryland Research Station’s annual field day on Thursday, June 15, said years like 2023 are a reminder that dryland farming is a gamble.
Wilson Creek hosts bluegrass gathering
WILSON CREEK — Bluegrass in the Park is set to start today at Wilson Creek City Park. The inaugural event is set to bring music and visitors to one of Grant County’s smallest towns. “I've been listening to bluegrass my whole life,” said the event’s organizer Shirley Billings, whose family band plays on their porch every year for the crowd at the Little Big Show. “My whole family plays bluegrass. And I just wanted to kind of get something for the community going. So I just invited all the people that I know and they’ll come and camp and jam.” ...