St. Marys skydiving business under scrutiny for not having insurace coverage required by city

ST. MARYS - A St. Marys skydiving business whose customer crashed into power lines last month has only a fraction of the insurance coverage the city requires, but attorneys can't agree who is responsible for it.

The Jumping Place has $50,000 in liability insurance per incident; $1 million is required. On March 19, a skydiver sustained neck and back injuries after he was blown off course from the business at St. Marys Airport. In addition, a Sarasota woman was killed last year when she, too, was blown off course on a Jumping Place dive.

Jim Stein, who represents lessee Bird Aviation, supports co-owner Jo-Beth Bird's claim that her business is grandfathered by its original 2003 lease with the airport, which did not require the company to include sublessees in its $1 million injury liability policy. Stein said they have been "waiting since December," when the City Council first learned of the discrepancy, to meet with the city and settle the issue.

Mayor Pro-Tem Chuck Trader said his concern is that the city is vulnerable to having to pay whatever The Jumping Place couldn't if an incident were to occur.

"We need a policy that protects the city," he said, "so we should either cease the operations [of The Jumping Place] or require them or somebody else to get a policy that protects the city."

But City Attorney Gary Moore said officials made repeated attempts to set up a meeting without any response from Stein. Despite the company's 2003 lease, he said Bird Aviation agreed it would "not do anything to impede" the airport's partnership with the city when the city established its lease with the airport in 2009.

He said Bird Aviation subleased to The Jumping Place after the city entered its lease.

Councilman Greg Bird, the other owner of Bird Aviation, said the issue was "obviously a hot topic" and that a meeting was critical.

Stein became angry and spoke out during Moore's presentation at Monday's City Council meeting. Police warned they would have to escort him out when he spoke out of turn, refuting Moore's claim that he had delayed meeting with city officials about the discrepancy.

"It's not proper for him to make those accusations and make it appear I didn't do my job," Stein fumed when he was told he was out of order.

The council agreed to have Moore set up a meeting between Bird Aviation, himself and Mayor Bill DeLoughy and report back in a month.

"I'll be glad to attempt to schedule it," Moore said.

If the insurance issue is not corrected, the city would consider the airport authority in breach of its lease and could void the lease if the issue was not addressed within 45 days.