North Aurora buying 500 tons of additional road salt

Go ahead, call Mike Glock, North Aurora’s public works superintendent, a worrywart. He looks at North Aurora’s pile of road salt, and at a calendar that calls for 57 more days of winter.

“I just don’t feel safe,” he said Monday night, after getting permission from the village board to buy an additional 500 tons of salt. “I just want to have myself covered.”

The board voted 4-0, with two members absent, to buy the salt, at a cost of $32,975, from Morton Salt.

Glock said the village has responded to 25 “snow events,” through Monday night. For a light snow, a pass through the village can use 100 tons, he said. Three to 4 inches of snow might result in using up to 400 tons. Use depends on the amount of snow and ice, and the temperature. When temperatures fall below 15 degrees, it’s a waste to put salt down, he said, because it doesn’t work.

The village started the season with 500 tons on hand, and purchased 1,085 more before Monday’s vote. The price has risen to $65.95 a ton, due to increased demand.