Published: November 09, 2008 10:02 pm      

Road-salt concerns melt for several municipalities

Some municipalities in Cambria and Somerset counties are getting a reprieve in their search for scarce road salt while the state is urging others to join a bulk-purchasing program to avoid similar problems next year.

With road salt quadrupling in price to as much as $185 a ton, PennDOT is making an estimated 82,000 tons available to municipalities left in the cold.

Geistown and Windber each will be able to purchase 300 tons from the state at $76.95 per ton; Summerhill Township can get 200 tons.

“A lot of these folks don’t have any salt and some folks don’t have a contract for purchase of salt,” PennDOT spokesman Steve Chizmar said. “They just couldn’t get it.”

Though some municipalities in the region participate in the state’s Costars program, which allows them to piggy-back on purchases, others belonging to Cambria-Somerset Council of Governments recently received word that salt will cost $109 a ton. Those municipalities in the Costars program will purchase salt that was bid in July for $69.

Other municipalities that traditionally have purchased salt on the open market received quotes of $138 a ton.

Last year, the cost ranged between $40 and $50 per ton.

Reasons for the sharp price hike are numerous, according to the Salt Institute of Alexandria, Va. While increased transportation costs play a role, the principal reason is believed to be over-purchasing by Midwestern states that suffered through a harder-than-usual winter last year and ran out of salt.

Last month, optimism reigned amid speculation that the state Department of General Services would seek a supplemental bid to help municipalities that were unable to get salt or are facing drastically higher prices.

The hope was short-lived for many after the DGS bids came in as high as $185 per ton. That’s when PennDOT stepped in, agency spokesman Ed Myslewicz said.

The municipalities chosen to receive the salt, which is PennDOT’s surplus from the past winter, were selected from a survey sent out through the state Association of Township Supervisors and the state Association of Boroughs, Myslewicz said.

That’s what happened in Windber, borough Manager Casey Durdines said.

“We received a phone call and they asked a few questions about our (salt) usage,” Durdines said. “Hopefully, this will help. We’ll take anything we can get.”

But officials of other communities, including Johnstown, Carrolltown and Croyle Township, don’t recall receiving a call or survey.

Johnstown is looking at paying $109 per ton, Public Works Director Darby Sprincz said.

“As soon as I heard about it (the state’s 82,000 tons) I made the call, but we weren’t eligible because we had access to salt through the COG,” Sprincz said.

The same applies to Carrolltown Borough, Manager Lonnie Batdorf said Friday.

“All I can do at this point is pray for 60 degree weather,” Batdorf said.

The ordeal has left many in the region thinking about joining the state’s Costars, a program that carries no membership fee and can provide bulk purchase prices on more than 20 items used by many municipalities.