Like a few of the municipalities within the region, the United Counties of Prescott-Russell is experiencing a shortage of road salt for its winter road maintenance this season.
Public Works Director Jérémie Bouchard presented United Counties of Prescott-Russell council (UCPR) with a summary February 25 of the situation his department is facing with its winter road maintenance program. He told council there is “a significant change” in the road salt supply situation for the rest of the current winter season and presented three options.
Option 1 is to continue with the current practice of mixing sand and salt for spreading on county roads for the rest of winter season. The UCPR Public Works Department would also contact the eight municipalities within the Prescott-Russell region to see if they have any surplus road salt in their inventory that the UCPR could use.
The UCPR would also agree to pay a proposed surcharge to Windsor Salt for any road salt supplies beyond the estimated quantity in the contract for this season’s winter road maintenance.
Option 2 is to maintain the usual road salt application practice until the current supply is exhausted and to follow the plan in Option for contacting municipalities for any surplus road salt they have and also agreeing to Windsor Salt’s proposed price for an extra supply of road salt.
Option 3 is to reject Windsor Salt’s proposed price increase for extra supplies of road salt beyond what the UCPR contracted for this season’s winter road maintenance program. The UCPR would insist that the company follow the process set up to resolve a contract dispute. The public works department would continue with a salt-and-sand mix for the rest of the winter road maintenance season until the current road salt stock is exhausted and then finish the season using just sand for winter road treatment.
Bouchard noted in his report that the unusual winter season conditions have seen more use of road salt in municipal road maintenance work all across Ontario. This has resulted in extra demands on road salt suppliers whose inventory is getting low.
UCPR public works department started mixing salt and sand for winter road maintenance and then contacted Windsor Salt, the UCPR’s road salt supplier, about getting extra deliveries of road salt. The company replied that, because of the provincial shortage of road salt, it has to apply a surcharge of $68.60 plus HST on top of the contract price of $89.21 plus HST for any extra supplies of salt beyond the current contract amount for the UCPR.
Windsor Salt stated the surcharge is necessary because the increased demand for road salt in Ontario means the company has to use winter vessels to transport the extra road salt from its Northern Québec mine to Montréal for delivery to Ontario. The company stated that it is unusual for it to have to use freighters in winter to bring in salt supplies by sea to its main depot for delivery to customers but noted that this season is “the most challenging winter” in 35 years and the surcharge is meant to cover the company’s increased costs to maintain its stockplie and also deal with extra labour and freight costs.
The UCPR’s legal counsel reviewed the contract with Windsor Salt and advised that the company is not allowed under the terms of the contract to impose “new pricing terms” based on changing market conditions. When the UCPR tried to negotiate a revised price, Windor Salt refused, stating there was “no room” for negotiation. The company later agreed that the “premium
pricing” change would only apply to municipalities that have exceeded the total amount of their own tendered salt supply amounts and that those demands would be reviewed on an individual basis for each municipal client.
The UCPR’s contracted amount of road salt for this season is 26,000 tonnes and, as of the beginning of February, has used 23,000 tonnes so far in winter road maintenance. An estimated 7000 tonnes more of road salt is needed until the April end of the winter season. Blending sand with salt reduces the amount of extra road salt needed to 5000 tonnes.
UCPR council approved Option 1, with the public works department continuing with the salt-and-sand mix to extend the remaining inventory of road salt for winter road maintenance. The department will also contact all municipalities in Prescott-Russell for any extra supplies of road salt they would be willing to sell to the UCPR. The UCPR will also agree to Windsor Salt’s surcharge for an extra supply of road salt if that becomes necessary.
