St. Charles to pay $206K more for road rock salt

ST. CHARLES – The city of St. Charles this year will pay more for its road rock salt than in previous years because of widespread depleted salt supplies.

The St. Charles City Council on Monday voted, 10-0, in favor of purchasing 7,000 tons of salt from Elgin-based Central Salt for the 2014-15 snow removal season at a cost of $93.75 a ton.

The total cost of $656,250 is $206,250 more than what the city budgeted for snow removal expenses, said Chris Minick, the city’s finance director.

The city will have to pay the difference from an addition to its budget, according to an executive summary of the proposed salt purchase.

Minick said the city was left with little choice after the harsh winter severely depleted vendor and manufacturer salt supplies.

Because of the lack of salt, St. Charles and about 195 other municipalities received an unprecedented no bid response, meaning vendors did not bid a price or commit to salt delivery for a significant number of locations, according to a July 25 letter from Minick to city leaders.

The city went with the $93.75 Central Salt quote and awaits pricing from Morton Salt, one of its traditional suppliers.

The bid offers that some municipalities did receive ranged from $70 to more than $140 a ton of salt, according to a July 17 email the city received from the state of Illinois.

“Our quote of $93.75 is not the cheapest that’s out there, but it’s not the most expensive,” Minick said to the aldermen on Monday.

(original article link: http://www.kcchronicle.com/2014/08/08/st-charles-to-pay-206k-more-for-road-rock-salt/a6af7b/)http://www.kcchronicle.com/2014/08/08/st-charles-to-pay-206k-more-for-road-rock-salt/a6af7b/))