By Terry Date
tdate@eagletribune.com
September 05, 2008 02:17 am WINDHAM — Paying the lower state rate for road salt is a thing of the past for some Southern New Hampshire towns. Windham and Derry long for the good old days — last year. Salt was much cheaper when they could piggyback on the rate paid by the state. But to save money this year, the state sought its bids for salt without making a deal that allows some New Hampshire towns to pay the same rate, said Caleb Dobbins, maintenance engineer for the Department of Transportation. Windham selectmen recently accepted a bid for $72.46 per ton from International Salt Co. of Clarks Summit. Pa. This compares to the $57-a-ton state rate. Town Highway Agent Jack McCartney figures Windham will spend about $15,000 more this winter on salt if it uses a typical amount — about 900 tons. Derry recently accepted a bid of $68 per ton. This compares to $48.80 per ton paid last year when Derry paid the same as the state rate, Director of Public Works Mike Fowler said. "Unfortunately, we have to take this bad medicine, but we never anticipated salt at $68 ton," Fowler said. The state has also seen a big increase in the price of salt this year, about 25 percent or $2 million more than it paid a year ago, Dobbins said. The price would be even higher if the state included its usual provision that allowed highway District 5 towns to buy salt at the same rate. District 5 includes Derry, Londonderry, Salem, Windham, Concord, Manchester, Milford and Nashua. Many communities lack the capacity to store enough salt for the entire winter, so multiple deliveries are required over the course of a season. More deliveries mean increased transportation costs, so the contractors included the added expense in their bids. The high cost of fuel is driving the price increase. Salem won't be affected by the jump in salt costs as much as other towns since its contract for $55.20 per ton runs through October. Public Works Director Rick Russell said he will have a full shed of salt by then and will likely only have to buy an additional 1,000 or 1,500 tons to get through the winter. Neither Derry nor Windham has the luxury of waiting until October since they have already accepted bids for this winter. In addition, they are limited in how they can immediately conserve salt since the weather will dictate usage. Fowler said Derry won't curtail its salt use if it means putting public safety at risk. In the event of a severe winter, the town will have to look elsewhere — scrimping on repairing catch basins, clearing culverts and repairing sidewalks — if it is to make up for the additional cost of salt, Fowler said. "We really don't have a choice," he added.
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