Treasure seekers get council green light

A local troop of treasure hunters will once again wield metal detectors and trowels in Windsor’s parks.

City councillors on Monday night halted administration’s quest to have the Sunparlour Treasure Seekers pay for additional liability insurance as a condition of being issued metal detection permits.

The club stopped its hunt for hidden items on city property in 2017 when the city’s parks department stopped offering the permits. The permits were first made available nine years earlier. Club members have been pushing for the city to develop a different permit process with a new, minimal insurance fee. Council’s decision was warmly welcomed.

“I know our members are going to be happy to hear this,” Jack Lewis, a member and former president of the Sunparlour Treasure Seekers, said Monday night.

He spoke before council with concerns about how long the process to reinstate the permits has taken, and about the potentially sky-high cost of insurance for his group. The city’s insurance provider unexpectedly refused to cover the metal detection group, according to administrators. Lewis said the only provider the club could find willing to insure them estimated a $2,700 yearly fee for $1-million liability coverage — half the coverage the city was looking for.

“We had no issue paying a nominal (insurance) fee like most permit applicants,” Lewis said outside council chambers after councillors opted for the city to take on any additional risk posed by the group’s activities. “We didn’t expect the councillors to say they’re good with the insurance they already have.”

The city’s concern had been over the possible danger presented by holes dug during the treasure retrieval process but never filled in. Lewis said the 23 members of his club adhere to a universal code of ethics and aim to be ambassadors for the hobby.

That means filling in any holes dug.

“It’s typical for us to request insurance any time someone is disturbing city property,” said Dana Paladino, deputy city solicitor.

“There is some disturbance to city property, albeit it’s smaller holes that they would be digging up.

“Unless our bylaw enforcement officers are out there, we’re not supervising the activity.”

Ward 3 Coun. Rino Bortolin said even if the group left a hole and someone tripped and sued the city, the city wouldn’t necessarily be able to prove the group was responsible. He told Lewis he deserved the permit without additional insurance fees for sitting through the five hours of the council meeting that preceded his item on the agenda.