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Ammon and Bonneville County Fire District disagree over $20,000 from apparatus sale; council to consider contract request
Summary
Bonneville County Fire District #1 asked the Ammon City Council to allow $20,000 from the sale of surplus apparatus to be reinvested in wildland personal protective equipment; the Fire District requested a Contract for Services template be completed and put the item on the next council meeting agenda for action.
Fire Chief Jon Molbert and Bonneville County Fire District #1 Commissioner Dana Kirkham asked the Ammon City Council on May 14 to allow $20,000 from the sale of surplus fire apparatus to be reinvested in wildland personal protective equipment (PPE), saying the funds originated with the Fire District rather than the city and should return to fire-safety uses.
Chief Molbert said the apparatus sold "did not originally pay for" with city funds and likely was acquired via grants or donations. He argued the proceeds are Fire District funds and should be reinvested in equipment, citing an expected heavy wildland fire season. "We are going into a tremendous fire season and feel the new wildland PPE would serve the Ammon community well," Molbert said.
Council President Scott Wessel referenced the contract between the Fire District and the City of Ammon and read section 3 aloud, saying the council was "not interested in modifying the contract" at that time. Commissioner Kirkham said the Fire District provides services the city benefits from and suggested the current agreement does not fully reflect how services are delivered; she requested a worksession to resolve issues including building leases and service levels.
Mayor Brian Powell framed the matter as a broader relationship question between the city and the Fire District, saying, "we are either all in or not," and asked how the city should move forward. City Administrator Micah Austin said the Fire District has provided improved service better than the city could separately, and agreed to send a Contract for Services template to the Fire District for completion.
The council agreed to place the Contract for Services request for $20,000 on the next council meeting agenda as an action item; no final funding decision was recorded in the transcript. The transcript records no vote on the $20,000 at this meeting and notes the council will revisit the item in a future session.
