Lake County Gazette

The Lake Forest Public Works Department has made preparations for the upcoming winter with the purchase of road salt, despite summer being only a few weeks away. The Lake Forest City Council approved the acquisition of 1,920 tons of road salt for $162,183 at its May 20 meeting.

According to the city council's May 20 meeting agenda, the council approved a bid by Morton Salt for the road salt at $84.47 per ton. Another bid submitted priced the road salt at $84.78 per ton, making Morton Salt's bid approximately $595 lower.

Two salt bays at the Municipal Services Building have space to store 2,400 tons of road salt, which equates to 83% of the city's average annual usage of 2,900 tons. The city has participated in Lake County's joint salt bid and purchase annually since 2016.

The city ended the winter of 2023/2024 with 2,000 tons of road salt in its salt bays. Another 400 tons out of the 1,920 approved for purchase will fill the salt bays before winter. The remaining 1,520 tons purchased for the 2024/2025 winter will bring the total available for that winter to 3,920 tons. Any remaining road salt after winter will be stored for use in subsequent winters.

The Public Works Department included 1,000 tons of road salt specifically for Route 43 and Route 60 in its order. This is necessary as Lake Forest is legally obligated with the Illinois Department of Transportation to plow and salt these two state roads.

Under the current contract, next winter's price increase cannot exceed 5%.