Bad winter puts pinch on salt

Street crews have dug deep into salt reserves this winter to de-ice roadways and sidewalks, leaving some towns with depleted salt domes.

Officials in Dundee Township, Carpentersville, Algonquin, and East and West Dundee said the unusually heavy snowfall, coupled with a shortage of road salt, has them scrambling for ways to eke out every last grain.

Some are mixing salt with sand or beet juice, while others are using salt sparingly.

Part of the problem, road commissioners and public works officials said, is departments miscalculated the amount of salt needed.

Districts or public works departments must order salt through the state of Illinois through a Central Management Services contract with a salt provider.

Each body estimates what is needed the prior April, then must purchase at least 70 percent of that amount the next winter.

They cannot order more than 130 percent of that number under the state-negotiated lower rate.

"Most of us are at or near the 130 percent mark," said Bob Miller, road commissioner for Algonquin Township, noting there were 18 snow events in December alone. "If it snows seven days in a row, it won't be long before that salt is gone."

But transportation issues also are contributing to woes.

"Apparently there's a glut of salt in southern Illinois but we can't get any here," said Bob Mitchard, public works director for Algonquin. "We've been pulling our salt out of Milwaukee and delivery has been sporadic at best."

The shortage of salt -- combined with the greater need this season -- and the difficulty getting deliveries prompted, commissioners and public works directors to meet with state officials last week to work on solutions.

"We have expressed our concern," Mitchard said.

Richard Babica, West Dundee's public works director, said this year the village ordered 1,300 tons of road salt from the state.

Of that, Babica said the village has about 100 tons in its storage dome and another 200 tons on its way.

The village has used up its maximum allotment from the state and no additional salt is expected, Babica said.

With more frigid weather expected early next week, Babica said the village is cutting sand into its de-icing compound.

"Sand and salt is a very viable mixture," Babica said "The sand provides traction and salt does what it does, acts at the anti-icing agent."

The 50-50 mix would provide another 600 tons of product for the village.

Babica said the village laid down about 750 tons of salt the last year.

Mixing sand with salt is one way Algonquin Township and village, as well the Dundee Township Highway Commission, are sustaining their supplies.

Miller said Algonquin Township's salt is also mixed with calcium chloride and beet juice, which extends the reserves and limits the amount of salt entering the groundwater.

East Dundee Director of Public Works T.J. Moore said the village has used about 92 percent of its 575-ton allotment.

"It is not as much as I would like to have left given the winter," Moore said. "If the winter stays like it is right now, we are going to be very conservative with salt."

In Carpentersville, trustees last month approved another $42,000 to spend on salt supplies, bringing the village's total salt budget to $167,000.

Cole said salt costs $42 per ton with the state contract.

"We are not as good as we would like to be," Cole said. "We have used close to 4,000 tons this year. So we are using a lot of salt."

Comparatively, Cole said the village ordered 2,500 tons from the state.

To ensure the village's 100 miles of roadway remain drivable, Cole said the village is using salt sparingly -- hills, curves and intersections are priority areas.

"We do not expect to make it through the winter if this weather continues," Cole said. "For a number of years, we used under the budgeted amount and that kind of caught up with us. It is just one of those things."