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Commissioners buy three salt spreaders
BOARDMAN
The Mahoning County commissioners have purchased three stainless-steel salt and slag spreaders and their control mechanisms for three new trucks that will be engaged in the snow- and ice-removal efforts of the county engineer’s office this winter.
The combined cost of the spreaders and controls is $107,592, and they are being purchased from Concord Road Equipment Manufacturing Inc. of Painesville at a discount through the state purchasing program.
Also included are tanks for liquid de-icing material and chassis-mounted snowplow hitches.
The commissioners made the purchase Monday during their meeting at the Boardman Township Administration Office.
Because of high salt prices, the county will stretch its salt supply by adding slag and BEET HEET, according to Patrick T. Ginnetti, county engineer. The county plans to use a mixture of two parts of slag and one part of salt, he said.
Ginnetti has warned motorists to drive carefully and be patient and not to expect clear and wet roads this coming winter because funding won’t allow spreading as much road-treatment material as in the past.
To conserve scarce and costly road salt, the commissioners earlier this month approved the purchase of up to $100,000 each worth of brine-treated slag from Gennaro Pavers Inc. of Lowellville and BEET HEET, a liquid de-icer made from sugar beets and molasses, from its sole supplier, K-Tech Specialty Coatings Inc. of Ashley, Ind.
The Ohio Department of Transportation offered salt for $105.25 a ton this month, compared with $27.50 a ton last year.
Ginnetti said the county won’t pay $105.25 per ton for salt and will use the 2,000 tons it obtained this past summer at $42 a ton.
The county used 13,000 tons of salt last winter and typically buys 8,000 to 11,000 tons a year.
Besides buying the spreaders, the commissioners approved Monday an $18,133 agreement with Shanahan Structures Co. of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, to build a 32-by-48-foot fabric shelter building at the county engineer’s office for salt and slag storage.
This will enable the county to buy these materials when prices are advantageous to the county and store them for later use, Ginnetti said.
In other action, the commissioners approved a change order resulting in a $48,878 decrease in the construction cost of the one-lane roundabout (traffic circle) at Mathews and Sheridan roads in Boardman, which opened Aug. 27.
The original construction contract award to Parella-Pannunzio Inc. of Austintown was for $696,693, and the decrease results from use of lower quantities of construction materials than originally estimated.
The commissioners’ next meeting will be at 10 a.m. Nov. 6 in the county courthouse basement.