[sac-board] Re: Star Party Liability
- From: "Andrew Goodwin" <a.goodwin1@xxxxxxx>
- To: <sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 21:25:06 -0700
Concerning the Flat Iron site. I spoke with the owner of the property
about our using the site and was told that he and his partners were ok with
it. He did say that he could just say no and we continue to use it (thus
removing the owners from any liability). He did not see any problem as we
have our own insurance and we pose no threat to the property (fires and
such) I could tell that this man was an attorney from the way he used words
to side step the issue. I was finally able to pin him down to one question,
yes or no can we use the site for our club star parties? And he did say yes.
Of coarse there are no witnesses to this conversation and he did not want to
meet with our officers to get it in writing. If the board thinks it is
necessary I will call him again to get a more concrete document. We should
check into property ownership in our observing. It is easy to do. The
Maricopa web site has Gis maps that show who owns the parcels where we
observe. I also called the ranger station and spoke with the ranger who
oversees the Cherry Road site and was told that we are fine and the signs
were posted to keep off road vehicles from tearing up the roads as to
conform with reg 404 of the clear water act (witch also covers endangered
species habitat).
Just some thoughts.
Andrew Goodwin.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Polakis" <tpolakis@xxxxxxx>
To: <SAC-Board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, June 06, 2004 12:17 PM
Subject: [sac-board] Re: Star Party Liability
> Here's Peter Argenziano's reply regarding what EVAC does (or doesn't do)
> for star party liability. I am not judging it as right or wrong; it's
just
> their policy.
>
> Dean Ketelsen told me that the Grand Canyon Star Party is covered by the
> Park Service's liability, as we expected.
>
> I will write Chuck Dethloff, who runs the Oregon Star Party, and ask Gene
> about who is the person in the know for RTMC. These may again not be
> applicable, as they are much larger-scale events.
>
> Tom
>
>
>
>
> >Date: Sat, 05 Jun 2004 18:18:55 -0700
> >From: Peter Argenziano <president@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 0.5 (Windows/20040207)
> >X-Accept-Language: en-us, en
> >To: Tom Polakis <tpolakis@xxxxxxx>
> >Subject: Re: Star Party Liability
> >
> > Sorry I didn't make the meeting... I have been working way too much
> >lately and spending considerable amounts of time on the road.
> >
> > Personally, I don't think the club assumes any liability for those
> >attending a star party. No attendance fee is charged, no registration is
> >required, no one restricts in any way who may attend... all that and the
> >fact that EVAC has a published disclaimer on our website should remove us
> >from any position of culpability.
> >
> > Here's our disclaimer as copied from the site:
> > The East Valley Astronomy Club (EVAC) is not responsible for the
property
> >or liability of any star party participant, nor will the club be held
> >liable for their actions or possessions. EVAC is not responsible for any
> >vehicular damage, theft, or mechanical difficulties that may occur while
> >attending a star party.
> >
> > Now, truth be known, I'm no lawyer - nor do I even play one on TV...
> >
> > Our insurance policy has the following limits:
> > General liability of $1,000,000 (each occurence) Damage to rented
> >premises of $100,000 (each occurence) Medical expenses of $5,000 (any
one
> >person) Personal and advertising injury of $1,000,000 General
aggregate
> >$1,000,000
> >
> > Peter
> >
> > Tom Polakis wrote:
> > Hi Peter, Last night, AJ had a special Board meeting about the
Messier
> >Marathon. He is concerned about the club's liability. He doesn't know
> >whether SAC should get a special insurance rider for that event or have a
> >release form or something. Since it's a similar event, what does EVAC do
> >for All-AZ? What is the amount of insurance coverage, and is it
considered
> >enough? I'm not challenging EVAC; just trying to find a model for AJ to
> >follow. Thanks. Tom
> >
>
>
>
Other related posts:
