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Trustees OK county road-salt project
By Mary Smith
MINERAL RIDGE
Weathersfield Township trustees want to strike a partnership with the Trumbull County engineer for salt storage.
The township’s trustees have approved a resolution for a “commitment and partnership agreement” with the county engineer’s office to obtain funding for a new county salt-storage building.
The salt-storage facility would serve the county and 14 townships, cities and villages.
Trustees agreed to take part in the $500,000 Trumbull County Salt Storage and Joint Purchasing Initiative Project.
Weathersfield trustees already have signed a letter of consent and have been purchasing salt, gravel and slag from the county for road treatment in snow and ice conditions.
The cost-saving features and benefits of the program will include: bulk- purchasing power of all participating entities; individual communities will forgo the burden of constructing localized salt-storage facilities; material loss as a result of precipitation runoff will be eliminated; the ability to use a mixture of salt- and ice-control materials (grit, sand and ash) will ensure adequate levels of each and maximize savings.
Township road crews already go to the current county engineer storage building on North River Road in Warren to pick up salt, slag or gravel they need.
Trumbull County Engineer Randy Smith is asking for support from any other townships or municipalities that are buying salt from the county to show that the need for a larger building exists, Trustee Steve Gerberry said.
Don Barzak of the engineer’s office said the state is requiring that communities in the co-op individually approve their participation as a requirement of the funding application process. The county is applying for a zero-interest loan and should know of its status by June 4, Barzak said.
The project would save about $400,000 by preventing several townships from having to build their own storage facility, proponents say. The townships, which are all located within a short distance of the county engineer’s office on North River Road, would use that facility to hold their road salt.
Through bulk buying, all 14 townships, villages and cities would save a combined $1.4 million over 10 years from buying salt in bulk, proponents add.
The county engineer also plans to seek bids for road-paving programs with five townships and the village of Newton Falls in the hope of reducing costs for all parties, which include Bazetta, Hubbard, Johnston and Vienna townships. It will be the first time the county has used the idea and makes Trumbull County one of the only counties in Ohio to try bulk bids.
The county also plans to use the same plan with a chip-and-seal program with an expected 10 communities to participate.