Town of Strathmore continues invoicing County

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Town of Strathmore Fire Department pulled out of the mutual aid agreement with the county at the end of last year and has continued to invoice Wheatland County for response to calls.
“There was a Mutual Aid Agreement in place a number of years ago. When the town goes out into the county, they’ve been invoicing,” said Alan Parkin, Wheatland County’s Chief Administrative Officer.
There were a total of three calls, including a vehicle fire on Feb. 23, a bail processor call on March 19, and a house fire on March 22 at the request of the Strathmore Rural Fire Department.
The total cost for calls was $13,993.43 and was invoiced to Wheatland County from the Town of Strathmore.
Parkin admits the reasoning for the town responding to rural calls is because of one the departments being understaffed in the situations.
“There is certain times where the rural don’t have enough members and the town doesn’t have enough members so we try to work together,” said Parkin. “In the past there has been no charge, the town has been charging since the new year on any calls so we’re trying to work our way through that. We’re trying to work on getting a solution for both parties.”