With the mild winter the cost of salt has gone down, meaning it may be a good time for a township to stock up. Just as Plainsboro plans to do at its next meeting (February 8) West Windsor voted to approve a contract with Atlantic Salt Inc. to buy rock salt in bulk through the Mercer County Cooperative Purchasing System at a cost of $81,700.
Councilman Maher met with Hary earlier on January 30 to discuss the costs associated with several agenda items, and the salt expenditure seemed too high to him.
“Since we are halfway through the winter can we cut the amount of salt we need in half? I don’t know how much we should have on hand, but I would feel better about approving this amount if there was some other reason announced than simply wanting to fill up the shed,” Maher said.
The township’s routine has been to fill up the shed when the salt supply is low because the township will get its best cost buying in volume. “Every time we say we’re not going to have a snowstorm we end up with one, so it’s always prudent to have an adequate supply. When you do get big storms then everybody competes to buy salt. It’s good management to have a full supply,” Hary said, adding that the salt will still be usable next year.
