Marc Santos of Hart Insurance had high praise for the Onset Fire District's Prudential Committee during its meeting on Thursday after discussing the district's renewed insurance policy.

"As a whole, I think it's important for you to know that what you do as a district, your history is outstanding," said Santos. "Whatever you're doing in terms of safety and maintenance and things like that, keep doing it because it's fantastic."

The premium of the policy increased by about $14,000. Two areas of increase include firefighters insurance and automobile insurance.

Three things that affect premium, Santos said, are the company's rate, the client's exposure and claims history. Exposure, he said, was what drove the premium up.

The Onset Fire District recently added six on-call firefighters and a new firetruck, thereby increasing their exposure and premium rates.

Mary McCoy assured Chair Charles Klueber that the District had taken into consideration that the premium may increase and was within their budget for the insurance costs.

To maintain their outstanding history, McCoy suggested the district come up with a capital plan that would include regimented updates of equipment.

"We've also started doing things like replacing trucks on schedule so that everything doesn't come at the same time and we don't give this horrendous bill to the district," said clerk Marcine Fernandes. "Things are being done in an orderly fashion."

Onset Water Commissioner Chairman Kenneth Fontes, who was present at the meeting, helped schedule a joint meeting for the Fire District's Prudential Committee and the Water Commissioners on Aug. 11 at 6:30 p.m. to allocate funds for projects and maintenance.

"It's exciting that we can sit at the same table and work this out," said Fontes.

"We're all in the same district anyway," responded Klueber.