Mt. Prospect on low-salt diet as it uses up carryover

By Steve Zalusky

Salt will be a little cheaper for Mount Prospect this year. And this year, the village will be on a low-salt diet.

This week, the village board agreed to purchase salt through the state’s joint purchasing program at $52.74 per ton, lower than last year’s price of $60.41 per ton.

The village is asking for 3,000 tons, substantially less than the 5,400 tons it normally requests.

Public Works Director Sean Dorsey said the reason for the decline is last year’s mild winter, which resulted in Mount Prospect having 3,000 tons of salt on hand.

“This year, the pricing is fantastic,” Dorsey said. “There has been a considerable drop from last year.”

Dorsey also recommended the board extend the contract for an additional year, which the board accepted.

“Given that these prices are so low, we don’t anticipate that there is going to be a better deal around,” Dorsey said.

As it has been for the past three winters, Morton Salt was the successful bidder.

Mount Prospect has purchased road salt through the state’s joint purchasing program for the most part for the past 20 years.