Plainfield On Its Own for Road Salt After Being Left Out of State Bid

The Village of Plainfield will spend $321,600 to purchase 3,000 tons of bulk road salt after being told by the State of Illinois that is on its own this year as far as soliciting bids for the winter weather necessity.

At a special meeting on Friday, trustees OK’d the purchase from Midwest Salt of Batavia.

Trustee Paul Fay questioned why the village didn’t seek bids as part of a consortium this year.

According to Village Administrator Brian Murphy, Plainfield had been a “friendly partner” in a state consortium with about 180 municipalities for two decades.

This year, however, the state went out for bids later that usual, Murphy said, and “didn’t get a single bidder for salt.” After asking agencies for their estimated salt needs, the state eventually did seek out salt bids —but only received bids for itself.

On Aug. 21, the village received a letter notifying staff that Plainfield and other municipalities were on their own for this year’s salt purchase, Murphy said.

With a rough winter in 2013 and predictions of similar nasty weather this year, Murphy said salt prices are “growing exponentially” as the weeks go by.

Midwest Salt’s offer of $107.20 per ton is almost double what the village paid last year, Murphy said.

The village typically sets aside $250,000 for road salt. Murphy acknowledged that the $321,600 salt purchase “is going to knock our budget.”

Currently, the village has 1,500 tons of salt in storage. During a typical winter, public works crews use about 4,500 tons of salt on village streets, Murphy said.

You can watch the Aug. 29 special meeting on the village’s YouTube channel.