Ponoka town council passed a motion last night to pay Ponoka County about $38,000 for equipment that was not included with vehicles it transferred last year when the county started its own fire department. 

The county has invoiced the town for items like hoses, nozzles and various tools, with the bill totalling more than $76,000.

“The county had an expectation the trucks they were getting would be coming fully equipped. But they did not come fully equipped. So the county subsequently did an inventory and submitted an invoice to the town and we’ve been working to sort out the validity of that invoice since that time,” said town CAO Albert Flootman.

Flootman said the town is paying what an investigator has determined to be appropriate.

That investigator had looked into the matter and concluded that 50 per cent of the amount was fair because “these items had been purchased on a shared basis over the years because the town and county shared the budget costs for running the fire department over many years,” Flootman said.

Briefing notes from last night’s town council meeting state the county will not negotiate on the amount of payment it seeks.