Innisfail Alberta - The Grinch is threatening to steal Innisfail's Christmas and town officials are promising not to roll over and quietly let it happen.
 
CP Railway (CP) notified the town last week through two invoices it wanted $162,100.38 for maintenance and repair work done at rail crossings on 50th Street and 49th Avenue this past summer and early fall.
 
Council heard the railway company's demand last week on the same night (9 Dec 2013) it passed a zero percent tax increase for its 2014 operating and capital budgets.
 
The "astonished" council defeated a motion on paying the bill until administration acquired more information.
 
If council bent and paid the bill local residents and businesses could have faced a tax hike of up to two and a half percent if administration could not find the money in any of its reserve funds.
 
The following day town officials were told by CP that one of the two invoices was sent in error and about $75,000 will be deducted from the total $162,100.38 bill.
 
That leaves the possibility the town will still be on the hook for about $85,000, which will be negotiated and settled some time in January.
 
"I am not 100 percent sure on this, but certainly I would be happy if it was zero," said Craig Teal, director of planning and operational services.
 
"It is not unreasonable for us to expect some heads-up, not to just receive some invoice in the mail. They have confirmed to us the $162,000 amount is being reduced. One of the invoices was definitely in error. The second one they are looking into."
 
Teal said the town does pay CP a monthly maintenance bill of $1,600 but the last time a major single bill was paid to the rail company was more than a decade ago for $18,000 of work on signal crossings at 49th Avenue.
 
Teal told council on 9 Dec 2013 that in 2012 CP made changes to the railway crossings through Innisfail, including work at the 50th Street crossing that resulted in a problematic rise of five inches.
 
Council was told this caused a safety issue for the town due to a significant bump going over the rails.
 
Motorists were warned with signage to slow down and exercise caution.
 
At the end of 2012, CP was notified by the town about the issue and the crossing was modified last summer to reduce the size of the bump over the railway tracks.
 
In the meantime, CP has issued an apology last week over the total amount of the invoices.
 
Ed Greenberg, spokesperson for CP, conceded there was an error and that it was an "unintentional" mistake.
 
"We quickly determined there was a mix-up and we expressed our apologies to the Town of Innisfail and we are going to readjust the invoice," said Greenberg.
 
"We are currently working with the town administration to review the process that led to this invoice and ensure better communication in going forward."
 
"Obviously we have to take off the portion that is CP's responsibility, and there is interest we have to calculate and take that off as well," he added.
 
"We have to make sure what we present to the town is fair, appropriate, and is accurate."
 
Mayor Brian Spiller said CP's invoicing caught the town off guard, adding there was an expectation the railway company would do the rail crossing work without sending a huge bill.
 
"All I know is that the crossing at the end of 50th Street was quite rough after they repaved it a year and a half ago and we've been complaining to them if they could regrade it because we actually had to put up go slow signs because cars were bottoming out," said Spiller.
 
"And when they fixed it we didn't figure they would be billing us. We just thought they would fix it back up to the standard it was before."
 
"We were quite upset and astonished when we got those bills on Monday at council," he added.
 
Spiller said he doesn't have "any idea" how much of CP's bill should be cut but he is hoping the rail company is willing to barter.
 
"We have to work and have a gentleman's agreement with each other," said Spiller.
 
"I am glad to see they realize they made a mistake on the one bill and hopefully they come to their senses on the other one too."
 
Teal said while CP has eliminated the $75,000 invoice for the work done at the 50th Street rail crossing he's hoping the company will at least be reasonable with the second $85,000 invoice, for work done at the 49th Avenue crossing site.
 
"I wish I could tell you that they are going to cut it in half, or drop it to zero, but I can't tell you that," said Teal, adding CP has said it won't penalize the town "given the time of year and the limited amount of heads-up about expectations of the cost."
 
"But they have committed to working with us and discussing this to give us at least more of an explanation," he added.
 
"We are looking forward to talking with them in January."
 
Johnnie Bachusky.