’Our supplier, in Illinois, is not exporting salt to other states this year.’

SEARCH FOR SALT

DiCola said he had spoken with former New Castle mayor Tim Fulkerson, now director of marketing and constituent relations with the Pennsylvania Department of General Services.

’He said 2,567 municipalities across Pennsylvania are looking for salt,’ DiCola noted.

In January, he continued, 1,100 municipalities agreed to ’piggyback’ with the state to buy salt but many, including the council, balked because the price was higher than in the past seven to eight years.

Fulkerson also is developing a Web site matching municipalities that have surplus salt with municipalities with none, DiCola said, ’if they come and get it.’

He is considering other options, he explained, which include mixing available salt with anti-skid materials such as sand and liquid calcium chloride. The township used this last year at $1 per gallon, he said, and snow plows were equipped with 60-gallon tanks.

DiCola also said he is looking at a road deicer treatment made with beet juice and brine. This substance must be sprayed on highways prior to snowfall. He said the process was tested last winter in the Akron-Canton area.

’We would have to buy new equipment to try it,’ DiCola said.

Neshannock, Mahoning and Wayne townships have agreed to participate in the council’s bid from Cargill Deicer Technology of Minneapolis, to purchase a magnesium liquid salt compound called Clearlane, for $64 per ton, DiCola said.

’We are guaranteed 900 tons.’

CUSTOMARY SERVICE

’Our residents won’t be seeing the level of service they are accustomed to seeing,’ DiCola said. ’In the past, we spoiled our residents because we could. Now we have issues which include the significantly higher cost of salt.’