File photo Image: Randy Thoms

The town of Fort Frances will now cover the liability insurance requirements for vendors using Rainy Lake Square.

The cost will still be passed to them in the form of a fee.

It is $10 a day or $50 for the season.

Interim Chief Administrative Officer Travis Rob says it came out of discussions with various companies, including their insurer Intact Public Entities.

“The town took it upon itself to investigate some different options for liability insurance. We talked with our insurer, which is IPE or Intact Public Entities, as well as Farmers Markets of Ontario, looking at different vendor options,” says Rob.

Farmers Market of Ontario is the insurer of markets in Kenora, Dryden and Thunder Bay but offered a package that would have precluded coverage from some of the regular vendors.

“So IP did come forward with an option, a solution for vendors that doesn’t have nearly the same exclusions. It’s a little bit less costly,” says Rob.

The need for insurance arose earlier this year when the town was informed of the limitations of its coverage at the Square.

The town requested vendors to acquire $2 million in liability insurance and a business license to set up at the Square.

That kept many away from the first few weeks.

The business license was covered by the Downtown Business Improvement Association a couple of weeks ago.

Rob says the insurance requirements are becoming standard for all markets in Canada but are handled differently in each location.

The policy does not cover groups using the facility for other events not connected to the markets.