Salt prices skyrocket; towns seek alternatives
Shortages and rising prices have towns throughout DuPage County scrambling to find ways to ensure they have enough road salt.
In Glen Ellyn, for example, village leaders are even talking about building a salt storage facility.
"With the salt shortage this year, it kind of re-engaged the discussions on the salt dome," said Joe Caracci, Glen Ellyn's public works director. "If you purchase salt at the right time of the year and are able to store it, obviously we'll be saving the village money."
Glen Ellyn is among dozens of Chicago area communities frustrated with the Illinois Department of Central Management Services' bidding process this year, which has towns paying anywhere from $50 to $165 per ton for road salt.
Alka Nayyar, a CMS spokeswoman, said the state has been doing everything possible to help municipalities through the salt shortage. Still, many issues are at play.
The state agency issued a salt bid on behalf of its participating towns as it does every year. Usually, a salt provider picks up all the towns in the consortium and charges each roughly the same price.
But because of the salt shortage, only a portion of the towns were picked up by salt companies during the first bid in June. At the time, salt was going for about $55 a ton.
The state rebid the remainder of the municipalities until all were picked up by salt providers. By the time the third bid came back in late August, prices were as high as $165 a ton.
"We reissued the bid," Nayyar said. "In that time, the market value of salt had increased. All we were able to do was negotiate as aggressively as possible."
Because last winter was one of the worst in a while, she said, there's still a huge demand for salt.
Most everyone in the Midwest depleted their salt reserves last year, and this year's efforts entail building the reserves and getting enough salt for the upcoming snow season.
Rick Curneal, legislative director for the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference, said area leaders are very frustrated with the process this time around.
"For years this has been a very smooth and easy process, and municipalities got a fair price for salt," he said. "I've never seen this kind of a mess."
Naperville is among the towns that got the $55 a ton price for road salt. Still, officials point out the city paid $40 a ton last year.
Dave Van Vooren, Naperville's public works director, said the city will monitor how it uses its salt supplies.
"We're trying to evaluate ways to do our work so we can reduce the amount of salt we use per round to be more efficient with the product," Van Vooren said.
Meanwhile, Glen Ellyn is facing the possibility of paying $216,000 for 1,800 tons of salt - three times the price it paid for the same amount last year.
Caracci said Glen Ellyn and a handful of other towns are exploring other options for salt, but right now the price of $120 a ton through the state is their best bet.
Meanwhile, the village is looking for a good spot for a salt dome. While the estimated price of the project would be $300,000 to $450,000, village officials say such a facility would allow Glen Ellyn to store an extra year's supply of salt.
Lombard's Village President William Mueller compared the prices to gas.
"One of the many things happening out there with this economy is we're just seeing figures come in that are just unbelievable," he said. "It's like gas. We're paying the price, but we don't really understand it. It's a strange, strange situation out there."
As for next year, there's hesitation on some municipalities' ends regarding CMS's process.
"Because of the issues that arose and the high cost this year," Caracci said, "there's going to be a lot more agencies and municipalities going out and looking for salt on their own before they sign the state's dotted lines."
Staff writer Melissa Jenco contributed to this report.
By the numbers
Here is what your town is expected to pay for each ton of road salt:
Addison: $120.45
Aurora: $54.47
Bensenville: $62.25
Bloomingdale: $120.45
Carol Stream: $60.78
Glen Ellyn: $120.45
Glendale Heights: $120.45
Itasca: $120.45
Lisle: $120.45
Lombard: $120.45
Naperville: $54.81
Oak Brook: $115.86
Roselle: $120.45
Villa Park: $120.45
Warrenville: $62.21
West Chicago: $121.62
Wheaton: $120.45
Source: Illinois Department of Central Management Services