3,000 Tons of Road Salt Expected for Arnold's Winter

Arnold could pay about $126,000 for 3,000 tons of road salt this winter and about $23,000 for the its delivery.

Arnold is part of a purchasing co-operative that is composed of 40 cities and schools in the St. Louis area, reported Rachel Heaton the Chesterfield Patch editor who on Monday night.

Chesterfield administers the co-op and members' money goes directly towards salt providers and distributors, Heaton reported.

For several years, the Chesterfield’s Department of Public Works coordinated the purchase and distribution of road salt for about 40 cities in the St. Louis area through the St. Louis Metro Branch American Public Works Association Salt Cooperative, Heaton reported. This year, the and school districts are participating in the cooperative.

Chesterfield ordered about 40,000 tons of road salt for the co-op, Heaton reported.

The co-op allows Arnold to obtain the best price for the salt by combining numerous small purchases. 

"Barges are coming up the (Mississippi) River, and (the salt providers are) constantly redirecting them to where they can maximize profits. Knowing that we're purchasing 40,000 tons gives us a lot of buying power," said Mike Geisel, Chesterfield’s Director of Planning and Public Works, said to his city council at its pre-meeting Monday.

Chesterfield unanimously approved a bid to pay $41.89 per ton of salt from North American Salt Company. The total purchase is about $1.68 million, which is shared among the cities and school districts in the co-op.

Arnold is expected to buy about 3,000 tons worth, according to Chesterfield documents provided to Heaton.

Chesterfield also unanimously approved a bid to unload and distribute of the salt. That contract went to Lange-Stegmann, who distributed the salt to the co-op cities last winter at the same price. It will cost about $7.66 per ton to get the salt to Arnold according to documents.

In total, the salt will cost the city $49.55 per ton, about 1.2 percent less and year's price of $50.18 per ton. The grand total for 3,000 tons of salt comes to about $149,000. 

Chesterfield will notify co-op members of the bids so each city and school district can approve its own purchases.

Correction: This article correctly states that Arnold's money goes directly towards salt providers and distributors. An earlier version incorrectly said the City of Chesterfield received the the money. The writer and editors erred.