County legal preparing response after vendor presses $5 million insurance requirement

Commissioners were told on June 29 that legal staff is preparing a formal response to a vendor that is now insisting on enforcement of an original $5 million insurance requirement in the parties’ agreement.

Staff told the board the original contract included a $5 million insurance clause that had not been enforced in practice; the vendor (referred to in discussion as IDWise or Idle) is now seeking to revert to the contract’s original terms. “We can trace that back several…contracts and they never enforced it and we never got the $5 million insurance. It wasn’t until now that they’re sticking to that,” a staff member told commissioners. Legal has the contract and is drafting a response for the commission’s approval.

County staff said the issue arose after the vendor pressed the county for compliance with the insurance provision and after the county missed some contractual deadlines that were originally required to be met by the 26th of a month. Commissioners asked legal to clarify enforceability and next steps; one commissioner asked whether the agreement as written is enforceable, and legal indicated that question will be answered in the forthcoming response.

Why it matters: commissioners said the insurance figure can materially change liability and contract risk and that prior practice had differed from the original contract language. Staff indicated that the county historically paid a lower insurance amount and that the matter is now under legal review.

Next steps: legal staff will present a formal response and recommended actions to the commission for approval. The board did not take any immediate action other than to request legal counsel’s advice.