Borough to Share Brine Maker With Nearby Towns

Believe it or not, winter is just around the corner. To prepare for what could be another icy and snowy season, New Providence and three area towns have agreed to purchase and share a brine maker to help them get through those frigid months.

Council approved a joint agreement on Monday night. Millburn and Summit had already approved their portions at the time of the Council meeting, while Chatham also approved a resolution on Monday night. The purchase of the maker will cost each town $30,000.

Brine is a salt mixture that can be applied to roadways before a storm hits and is stored in tanks after it's made.

"There is no shelf life for brine," said Summit Superintendent of Public Works Paul Cascais.

Summit will house the brine maker at the Public Works depot on Chatham Road, while the other communities will store the brine at their own facilities.

Mayor J. Brooke Hern said the council labored over this agreement to ensure New Providence is only paying for what is used by the borough.

"I think [the council] really has accomplished a fundamental goal of shared service," he said at the meeting on Monday. "Not only do we want to share services, we want to share the savings. We want to make sure that when we are engaging in shared service agreements with other municipalities of different sizes, that we are not some how lost in the shuffle here and subsidizing other municipalities and maybe saving a little bit, but not getting our fair share of the savings."

The brine maker will be equipped with software that will track daily and seasonal data, including production volume, water, salt, additive
usage and operator hours. The card reader, part of the software, will distinguish between users for accurate account of use in each town.

"It will reduce or minimize premium hours that we spend combating snow," Cascais said because brine reduces the bonding between the snow and the street. "Also it assists in the plowing operation itself. It minimizes the bonding and the plowing operation becomes simpler."

Because the city of Summit can make brine for $.16 a gallon with the machine, Cascais estimates the city could save 25 percent on salt purchases over the next three years.

New Providence council members agreed the brine maker would save the borough a great deal of money on salt and would help alleviate the need for plow workers to work overtime if there is heavy snowfall. Councilman Jim Cucco said New Providence spent $80,000 on salt last winter.

New Providence Borough Administrator said this agreement is somewhat unique since it's between four communities in three different counties.

"I think it speaks volumes about the level of cooperation that’s been developed amongst our communities and our public works directors to accomplish this," Marvin said.