City to spend $5 million on road salt

Sault Ste. Marie City Council is expected to approve a purchase tender tonight that will supply public works with coarse highway salt for the next five winters.

The low bidder was K+S Windsor Salt Ltd. of Mississauga.

Although the tender doesn't impose quantity obligations, based on past experience the city expects to buy 9,500 tonnes a year, at the following price per tonne:

• $98.94 for the 2017-2018 season
• $113.91 for the 2018-2019 season
• $116.19 for the 2019-2020 season
• $118.52 for the 2020-2021 season
• $120.89 for the 2021-2020 season

The salt must be delivered to the city's storage facility.

If placed in a single conical pile with the recommended 32-degree slope, each year's salt purchase would be about 13.6 metres high with a diameter of approximately 43 metres.

Based on expected usage, the salt will cost $4.9 million, plus HST, over five years.

An unsuccessful bid from Compass Minerals Canada Corp. of Mississauga would have cost $5.5 million for the same quantity of salt.

Tonight's City Council will be livestreamed on SooToday starting at 4:30 p.m.