Higher salt prices leave TOWN budgets in trouble
Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer
Even
before the first snowfall of the season, Highway Superintendent Francis
“Bud” Chase knew his department was in for a tough winter.
An
almost 40-percent increase in the price of road salt has left the town’s
Snow and Ice budget on the ropes, with Interim Town Administrator Bob
Markel stating that as much as $120,000 of the $125,000 budgeted for
snow and ice removal could be eaten up by salt alone — a figure Mr.
Chase agreed with.
“If we have the same kind of winter we had last year, that’s what we’re looking at,” Mr Chase said.
Last
year’s winter was a tough one by all accounts and the highway super
said he purchased about 1600 tons of road salt to combat the frequent
snowfall. Even conservative estimates leave his department only $5,000
for plowing activities, and matters were further complicated when two
vehicles in the plowing fleet had to be taken out of service. In order
to combat the loss, Mr. Markel approached the Board of Selectmen with
the option that they outfit another vehicle — a newly purchased loader —
with a plow, at a cost of about $11,800 to be paid by tapping the snow
and ice funds.
“For lack of any other option, I recommend we use
the snow and ice account to get the new loader outfitted with a plow so
we can provide better service this winter,” Mr. Markel told the board.
Snow
and ice funds can be used to purchase equipment used for snow removal,
but it’s a practice Selectman Julie Farrell said the town tries to
avoid, as deficit spending on that account comes out of money the town
gets back on their cherry sheet the following year.
“It’s digging the hole deeper,” Ms. Farrell commented.
While
Mr. Markel suggested the town try to save in other areas to cover some
of the additional spending at the end of the fiscal year, Mr. Chase said
there was little more he could do to mitigate the impact the price
increase on road salt. The blend the town uses now, he said, is about 75
percent sand and 25 percent salt, leaving little room for reductions on
either end.
“It allows the traffic to beat up the snow and ice and melt it off,” he explained.
Although
he was not sure why this year’s prices were so high, Mr. Chase
speculated that last year’s winter could have contributed to a projected
increase in demand, as well as the higher cost of diesel fuel when
contractors put their programs together.
“It’s ridiculous,” Mr. Chase said. “It’s crazy.”
He
also added that his already low snow and ice budget has been slashed in
recent years and that $125,000 is not enough to cover the costs. Last
year, when given the same amount, Mr. Chase said he deficit spent by
about $51,000, even without the price increases.
Other
communities in the area, he said, budget significantly more. Hubbardston
set aside $206,672 in this year’s budget and Ashburnham dedicated an
even $200,000 for snow and ice removal. Deficit spending, Mr. Chase
said, is expected, but he still works hard to keep that number low.
“We try to be as conservative as we can with spending and get the roads so you can travel them,” he said.
After a quick read of the LTE about Ashburnham road conditions on Thanksgiving day they still have 199,000. left for the rest of the year. So as Bud tells us the budget we think is in balance is not!
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