As we get ready for the next round of snow and ice, Bloomington and Normal public works officials say they have plenty of road salt to get through the winter.
Normal Public Works Director Wayne Aldrich said the last two winters were less severe than usual, so the town has been using leftover supplies.
“Because last year we actually had salt in our shed, and we had salt outside of our shed. We had that much of a surplus. We didn’t buy salt last year,” Aldrich said.
Aldrich said the town still has half of its salt supply left, but plans to buy more salt this spring to get ready for next winter.
Bloomington Public Works Director Jim Karch says the city still has about 2,000 tons of salt left at its storage dome, which he said is about one-third of its annual supply.
“Thankfully the last couple of years they have been lighter winters, so that’s allowed us to not use as much salt,” Karch said.
Both Bloomington and Normal budget $380,000 a year for salt and de-icing equipment.
Aldrich said that money was absorbed into general revenue last year when Normal didn’t need to buy salt.
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