High prices are salt in the wound

The state's bidding process for road salt is expected to be in the spotlight today, with entities that rely on that system facing prices four times higher than last year.

A conference call is scheduled with local road officials, state and local politicians and the Illinois Department of Central Management Services. Legislators want to know why, on two occasions, no bids were received for Lake and McHenry counties and other communities in the metropolitan area.

"The process may be bad," said state Rep. Kathy Ryg, a Democrat from Vernon Hills. "We also need to figure out where we're going to get salt and how much it will cost."

Meanwhile, some entities have found their own sources in an extremely tight market. The Lake County Division of Transportation, for example, is working with townships on alternatives.

Those who already have acted found prices aren't the $145 to $165 per ton predicted by the state, but still are significantly higher than last year.

"I'm going to ask the attorney general to look into this because I believe it's a blatant attempt at price fixing," said Warren Township Supervisor Suzanne Simpson.

The town board in an emergency meeting Friday, decided to buy the 5,000 tons of road salt it needs for winter through another source at $114.50 a ton, compared with $41 a ton last year.

"There are a lot of questions I have as a public official as to how the state handled this," she said.

Salt supplies and prices are at a premium because of many factors. Many communities, hammered by last year's severe winter, used up supplies. They also are ordering more just in case at a time when there is less to be had.

"The pipeline was empty in March of last year. All year the mines have been running flat out," said Richard Hanneman, president of the Salt Institute, based in Alexandria, Va. "I can't tell you if there's going to be enough for everybody to have what they've bid."

That hasn't been a problem for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which has secured 1.4 million tons of salt at about $48 a ton.

While everyone was scrambling at the end of last season, the department took a calculated risk and renegotiated its contracts at an 18 percent price hike. "We're pretty well set," said Dave Vieth, director of the bureau of highway operations.

Ryg says there have been misconceptions about Illinois' salt situation. Lake and McHenry counties weren't purposely left off the bid list, but officials want to know why it wasn't attractive to bidders.

"Nobody is saying the state did something wrong," she said.