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player ready...The Oak Park Village Board of Trustees approved on Monday the purchase of 5,400 tons of road salt at a price nearly 50 percent higher than what the village paid last year, but it was one of the “fortunate” ones, officials said.
Public Works Director John Wielebnicki explained that Oak Park’s bid of $74.21 per ton of salt was relatively lower than what some other communities are paying after last winter nearly depleted all salt reserves. The village originally requested 4,500 tons and had the option of purchasing between 80 percent and 120 percent of that amount, according to a staff memo.
“This is a classic case of economics — supply and demand,” Wielebnicki said. “I was anticipating having to pay in the $80s.”
The village is one of hundreds of municipalities that participate in the state’s joint purchasing program, which seeks to help communities keep costs low by soliciting competitive bids for road salt.
But this year, about 180 local governments were unable to secure bids through the state and had to find salt on their own.
“We’re actually fortunate,” Wielebnicki said, adding that the village has not explored soliciting other bids outside of the state program because staff figured the state bid would offer the best price.
Last year, the village paid $50.67 per ton through the state bidding process. Some communities that didn’t receive bids are paying more than $100 per ton.
A few years ago, the village didn’t initially receive a bid from the state and when it finally did the price was more than $130 per ton, Wielebnicki said.
“(The price) really fluctuates. Our goal is to take advantage of it,” he said.
In an average winter, the Village uses around 4,000 to 5,000 tons of rock salt for snow and ice control, according to a staff memo. The village currently has about 1,000 tons of salt in storage, the memo said.
“There’s speculation that this winter is going to be worse,” Village Trustee Andrea Ott said. “I want to be prepared.”
Board President Anan Abu-Taleb asked whether it made sense to buy fewer tons now and wait to see if the price dropped later on.
“I just want to make sure we’re not getting too anxious here and jumping ahead,” Abu-Taleb said.
But Wielebnicki said he didn’t expect prices to go down, noting that some towns are still looking for salt.
“With salt, the best thing to do is get locked into the prices as early as you can before the season starts,” he said. “It snowed last weekend, folks. … I feel I have to prepare for the worst.”