As the Miami County engineer, Huelskamp will oversee the county garage’s distribution of road salt to other area governments who participated in the SWOP4G (Southwest Ohio Purchasers for Government) bidding for salt.
The county was designated one of the purchasing cooperative’s dumpsites for available salt.
Due to a salt shortage following the harsh winter of 2013-14, the salt will be distributed according to a formula set by SWOP4G to communities including Enon, New Carlisle, Urbana, Greenville, Piqua, Troy, Tipp City, West Milton and county townships in addition to the county itself.
The formula included a look at the level of salt on hand and the average use in a year.
The county is slated to receive 5,880.65 tons of salt to allocate to entities whose average use of salt in a winter combined totals 15,550 tons.
Miami County, for example, uses an average 4,500 tons of salt in a winter. It has 1,750 tons on hand and is being allocated 1,569.32 tons.
Huelskamp talked with the county commissioners recently about the salt shortage and the distribution plan.
The governments set to receive salt being dumped in the county by the supplier will be notified they can pick up the commodity when it arrives, he said.
“I think we will get by. I think it is going to be a difficult situation to get through this winter,” Huelskamp said.
“We’ve met at the office and garage and have talked with the townships and have all decided one thing: We are not going to panic. We are just going to kind of see how things go,” he said.
Each entity is devising its plan for how to deal with the 2014-15 winter.
In Miami County’s Monroe Twp., the plan is to have crews concentrate on salting hills and intersections, Trustee Martin English said. Increased use of sand and grit is anticipated, meaning more clean up of streets with curbs and gutters next spring, he said.
In Troy, a “very limited” salt supply means crews will be “very cognizance of when and where we apply it,” Patrick Titterington, city service and safety director, said. Pre-treatment of streets will be emphasized, though each event is different and have to be assessed on its merits, he said.
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