HUBBARD TOWNSHIP — With months remaining in winter, communities are taking action to ensure they aren’t blindsided by the harsh conditions that come with it.

Trustees at Monday’s meeting approved purchasing 250 tons of salt at a rate of $79.14 per ton — a total of $19,785 — to be stored at the county’s salt dome.

As part of his road report, Trustee Eric Lamb said the department started the season with 600 tons of salt, but because of winter’s early onset, they’ve only been left with half that amount.

Lamb said as a result, Road Superintendent Ryan Evans discussed ordering an additional 150 to 250 tons to ensure the township has an adequate salt supply to last the remainder of winter.

Trustee Jason Tedrow said the township normally goes through about 30 tons per pass of the road department’s salt trucks, divided equally among its three vehicles.

“We have about 10 passes of salt left for the year; I talked to Ryan today, and there’s supposed to be snow this week and next week — it’s supposed to be cold,” Lamb said. “We were talking, and he thinks it’s in our best interest to have 250 tons of salt, which would give us 18 total passes around the township.”

Tedrow said with inclement weather coming and the potential for snow to carry into April, he didn’t want the township to run into a situation where safety services or school buses couldn’t function because of road conditions.

“This may exceed what we need, but at the same time, it’s maybe (a) couple thousand dollars additional expense, but it’s an insurance policy so we can get to everybody,” Tedrow said.

Tedrow noted that some communities already have been cut off from the salt mines, but the township was able to get an order in before the cutoff.

LIBERTY

Hubbard isn’t the only township watching the frigid winter season closely.

At Monday’s Liberty trustees meeting, Liberty Road Superintendent Wayne Hickman said his department has already gone through 700 tons of salt.

“Normally, you get about 600 to 800 tons for a whole winter season — and we had a bad season last year,” Hickman said. “The good thing is, we planned for it, this salt, and we have more coming.”

Hickman said the extra resources are coming amid a salt shortage, explaining that the amount removed from the mines near Lake Erie is being limited.

“Bear with us, we’re trying our best; we’ve got five guys, we’re getting out there when we can,” Hickman said. “We’re trying to juggle material, manpower and Mother Nature — so far, I think we’re doing a pretty good job.”