SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - City council is considering a $4,500 cap on firefighting fees after a Latham Island house fire in December led to a $12,354.54 bill.

Dan Westman, the owner of the home, gave a presentation to council in March, suggesting that a cap be put in place.

He said Monday he's happy to hear councillors and administration took note of his recommendation.

"Council seemed to be pretty sympathetic when I presented the facts to them," he said. "I'm pretty pleased with what they've done so far."

Currently when there's a fire, there is a minimum charge of $500 for the first two hours the fire department spends responding to the emergency and an additional $200 minimum for each additional two hours, plus actual overtime costs for firefighters.

It took 12 hours to extinguish the blaze at the Westman's Hearne Hill Road home, resulting in a $12,354.54 bill, made up of the $500 minimum fee, plus $1,200 for additional hours and $10,654.54 for overtime paid to the firefighters.

"I would have even been mad at the $4,500 bill, but I'd be very glad if I had that right now," Westman said with a laugh.

City administration presented the new fee structure to council Monday along with a complete review of the fees and charges bylaw.

City councillor Amanda Mallon said she was pleased with the work done to lower the cost of fighting house fires for homeowners.

"I think it shows that we really did listen to our citizens," she said. "I appreciate that."

Coun. Cory Vanthuyne agreed.

"I'm happy to see that the public safety division has taken a number of (Westman's) comments and suggestions and worked with them to come up with a practical, meaningful benefit to the citizens of Yellowknife."

The maximum change of $4,500 will only be applied to residential buildings, while all other types of buildings will be billed according to the current fee structure.

Although councillors were pleased with administration's recommendation, they asked that there still be a presentation to council, as was promised by administration, to answer all of the questions Westman raised about the bylaw during his March 14 presentation.

"I expect that this issue will be dealt with more in-depth," said Coun. Bob Brooks.

Some of the issues raised by Westman included the wording of the invoice, which he said made it seem as though he had to pay his bill within 30 days or else pay 25 per cent interest – something that turned out not to be true.

Carl Bird, director of corporate services, said although the line is included on the invoice, there actually isn't interest on these types of charges, nor is there as strict a deadline.

Bird said the city deals with these types of charges by setting up a payment plan with the homeowner.

And interest isn't added to these types of charges; it is limited to items like overdue taxes and utilities, he said.

For the fees and charges bylaw to be amended, council will vote on the issue at a later date.

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