Mahoning roads will be safe despite switch to salt-stone mix

By Peter H. Milliken

Skyrocketing road salt prices require conservation, a county official says.

YOUNGSTOWN — Don’t expect to see bare roads this winter as the county stretches its budget and its supply of costly road salt by mixing it with crushed stone for all applications, but be assured safety won’t be compromised, a county official said.

“It won’t be bare pavement, but we will continue to treat the roads,” said Marilyn Kenner, chief deputy Mahoning County engineer.

“It’ll still be safe,” she said Thursday. “We will never compromise the safety of the traveling public.”

Kenner spoke after the county commissioners rejected the sole bid they received Oct. 1 from a road salt supplier, which was $89 a ton for 3,000 tons.

That company, International Salt Co., would have required the county to pick up the salt in Baltimore using its own trucks, which hold 10 to 12 tons each. That proposal “would be cost prohibitive,” Kennner said.

Instead, the county will obtain salt at $70.90 a ton under a contract with the Ohio Department of Transportation, using Morton Salt Co. as the supplier, she said.

Salt prices have nearly doubled since last year, when the county paid $37.70 a ton.

The price increase is due to extreme damage to two salt mines and higher transportation costs due to increased fuel costs, and possibly due to a shortage because of last year’s drawn-out winter, an ODOT spokeswoman said.

The county, which has more than 488 miles of county roads, has been using 15,000 tons of salt in an average winter, and now has 4,500 tons in its possession, Kenner said.

To conserve salt and money, the county will apply a mix consisting of half salt and half crushed stone to roads in all areas of the county this winter. The stone costs $9.50 and $12.50 a ton.

“We don’t have the money to purchase the amount of salt that we used to purchase,” she said.

Last year, the county used 100 percent salt in urban areas, and salt and stone mix in rural areas, Kenner said.

The crushed stone is an abrasive material that provides traction on icy roads, she added.

In other action Thursday, the commissioners:

UHonored Maureen Smith, microfilm supervisor, upon her retirement after 37 years with the county.

UHeard Judee Genetin, acting county Department of Job and Family Services director, announce that the department’s free senior citizens forum will be from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p,m. Oct. 23 in JFS offices, 345 Oak Hill Ave.

ULearned from recycling educator Kim Lewis that Damascus Elementary School has won the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Gold Achievement Award for its recycling program for the second year in a row.

UHeard recycling director Jim Petuch announce two events on Saturday — a household hazardous waste collection from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Canfield Fairgrounds; and a “Go Green” Festival beginning at 2 p.m. in Beloit Village Park.