Sun Nov 08 2009
By JARED ORZOLEK
Five counties in northwest Ohio were left on ice recently when the Ohio Department of Transportation opened bids for road salt to be used in the upcoming winter season.
Williams, Fulton and Henry counties in ODOT's District 2 and Defiance and Putnam counties in District 1 were among 43 of Ohio's 88 counties which did not receive bids for sodium chloride.
However, ODOT has restructured its salt contract for the remaining counties hoping to entice companies to submit bids by Friday when new contracts are opened.
Paulding County was the only area county to receive an ODOT salt bid, at $57.69 per ton. The counties that did not receive salt bids were in northwest, northeast and southern Ohio.
ODOT has reduced the salt needs for the 43 counties from 378,000 tons of salt to 117,000. Companies now have 21 days to deliver the salt instead of 14 and ODOT has also lessened the penalties for late deliveries.
"We are trying to back off the amount in order to entice bids," said Rhonda Pees, spokesman for ODOT's District 1. "With the salt we have on hand now, we could get through a normal winter."
ODOT has close to 500,000 tons of salt stockpiled statewide, which was acquired through its 2007-08 salt contract that expires Sept. 30.
Road crews used extra sodium chloride last winter after a series of snowstorms swept through the area January through March.
The drain on supply has increased demand for salt as local and state entities seek salt suppliers for the upcoming winter season.
The transportation department's
salt contract is awarded on a per-county basis as salt companies bid on a price per ton in each county.
"Any change in price does not mean we will stop treating the roads," said Theresa Pollick, spokesman for ODOT's District 2. "We will rely on technology to help us use our salt more efficiently. We are going to stress 'ice and snow, take it slow.' "
ODOT's salt contract is especially important this year because many Ohio counties and municipalities have elected to use the state's purchasing program to acquire salt.
This year, 236 municipalities have sought to join the ODOT state purchasing program, an increase from the 174 that signed up last year.
In the city of Defiance, assistant service director Russ Jesse said Defiance elected to use state purchasing to get salt after only one salt company submitted a bid out of the seven he had solicited. The bid received was nearly double the 2007 cost for road salt.
"The state was very positive that they were going to get bids," Jesse said concerning ODOT's second round of salt bids to be opened Friday.
In Defiance County, Engineer Warren Schlatter was also considering using state purchasing after he received only one bid for salt. The company bid $97 per ton, which was more than double the $40 per ton amount of last year's contract.
In Henry County, the city of Napoleon and the county engineer did not elect to use the state purchasing contract to acquire salt.
Both the city and the county are now included in the same bid package to be opened by county commissioners Sept. 9.
"We may have to look at a different schedule and just look at certain areas which are prone to ice," said Tim Schumm of the engineer's office. "We are going to do the best we can. People might just have to slow down."
Schumm said the county does have some salt left over from last winter, but does not expect the supply to hold up depending on the severity of the upcoming wintry weather.
"If it's a winter like it was last winter, we don't have the stockpile," he said.
Napoleon officials could decide to purchase salt at the price offered to the county or bid the city contract separately for the second time.
Napoleon does have limited sodium chloride supplies left over from last year, but city officials have said they may have to cut back on use depending on how much salt the city can obtain this year.
Comments
By Posting to this site, you agree to our Terms of Service Be polite.
Inappropriate posts may be removed.
Crescent-News.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Login above or Register to comment.
0 Total Comments Home | Back
Copyright Defiance Publishing, LLC 1995-2009. All Rights Reserved.
Content may not be republished without the expresse written consent of the publisher.
Content may not be republished without the expresse written consent of the publisher.
Dix Communications