The city of Madisonville isn’t taking any chances this winter by stocking up on extra salt in preparation for icy roads and it's costing extra.
This week the city council approved the purchase of around 1,200 tons of road salt from the North American Salt Company in an attempt to prevent a shortage.
City Administrative Officer Mike Franklin says the salt's contracted price is up to $103 per ton.
"Last year it was around the neighborhood of $70 a ton, I think the whole United States is gonna get hit in the pocketbook by last year’s winter," said Franklin. "Last year, Madisonville and a lot of cities got in a crunch for salt so we’re just trying to be proactive and put in a larger order than usual and make sure we have space for it.”
Franklin says the city's 800-ton storage capacity is full but the council has found additional storage space in several unused sanitation department buildings for the unusually large stockpile of salt.
Franklin says Madisonville will use about 300 tons of road salt on all major roadways on an average winter, but that number has fluctuated after the last few harsh winters.
Earlier this year, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet salt supplies ran short and emergency reserves were tapped after icy conditions lasted into mid-March.
