For a town in Maine, it's stars and strife.
To honor veterans in Randolph, Maine, the town mounted 20 American flags to utility poles on traffic corridors. Earlier this month the flags came down due to lack of liability insurance.
Randolph had coverage through the Maine Municipal Association, but it did not meet the $5 million coverage limit that utility company Central Maine Power requires. This meant the town officials would have to buy an insurance rider, for about $500, for the additional coverage. This was not in their budget, Centralmaine.com reported.
Central Maine Power Co. and Fairpoint Communications Inc. owns the poles and has an approval process for “municipal decorative temporary attachments,” in this case flags. There is no fee, but applicants must show proof of insurance with a minimum liability limit of $5 million. Fairpoint has a similar policy, Centralmaine.com reported.
“The problem is that people attach things to utility poles … using nails, staples and screws. Line workers need to work on poles from time to time. If they get a prick in their rubber gloves, that makes them useless and nonprotective. It could be lethal,” a Central Maine Power spokeswoman told Centralmaine.com.
For now there are donation buckets in local Randolph stores. If enough money is raised to pay for the insurance the flags might be back up for the rest of the summer, Centralmaine.com reports.
It may just sound like a harmless prank, but a game of ding dong ditch has led to a $50,000 lawsuit in Illinois.