Paradise comes up short on salt

By Mark Squibb

Paradise council voted earlier this month to purchase more road salt after running low on the winter necessity.

During this week’s public meeting, councillor Patrick Martin explained that staff typically purchase 6,000 to 8,000 metric tonnes of winter salt annually.

At the beginning of this season, however, there was some 2,400 tonnes of salt leftover from last season, and so the Town reduced its overall salt purchase to 6,000 tonnes at a rate of $126.86 per tonne.

This winter, however, has proved to be more challenging than last winter, and the Town soon found itself with less than 1,000 tonnes in reserve and all funds set aside for winter salt exhausted – with more subzero temperatures expected in weeks to come.

Council voted unanimously through an e-mail poll conducted on April 5 to purchase an additional 1,000 tonnes of salt at a cost of $126,860 to get through the remainder of the winter. Funds will be drawn from the Town’s transportation budget.

Council ratified that decision at this week’s public meeting.