Sturgeon Bay News: City Council Notes

Road salt price skyrockets

The snowy, icy winter of 2007-08 put a major dent in the Wisconsin supply of salt used to melt ice on the roads.

With the low supply and potentially increased demand by municipalities around the state, the city of Sturgeon Bay will have to pay an increased rate for salt for the 2008-09 winter.

The city received a quote from Morton Salt, the city’s supplier for the last several years, for $79.13 per ton of delivered salt, with a maximum of 1,075 tons the company could deliver. Last year, the city’s contract was for 1,125 tons of salt at $35.05 per ton.

The limit and 44 percent increase in costs could force the city to use more sand on the roads than salt. Although sand is less expensive, use of the material poses the potential for more labor costs to clean up the sand in the spring from storm drains and roadsides.

City opposes Coast Guard’s call on bridge

City aldermen joined Door County Supervisors in signing a resolution opposing the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) decision to open the Maple-Oregon Street Bridge on demand for all maritime vessels.

The USCG issued orders Aug. 21 to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to open the bridge at any time of the day for boats needing to pass through. In recent years, the Michigan Street Bridge was opened on the hour for maritime traffic and as needed for USCG boats.

Traffic patterns have accommodated this schedule, according to new city Administrator Steve McNeil, and changing the bridge opening schedule on top of the new traffic patterns of the Maple-Oregon Street Bridge really throws a wrench into the system and has caused a number of problems.

The resolution adopted by the council requests that the USCG continue to allow the WDOT to open the bridge on the hour for recreational boats, and as necessary for USCG and commercial vessels.