SOUTH RIVER — As of Monday night, the borough was just about out of salt, according to officials at the Borough Council business meeting.
And with a storm predicted for Thursday morning, the situation was one of immediate concern.
Councilman Peter Guindi said earlier in the day that he was hoping to get some help from Middlesex County while the borough awaited a salt delivery. However, he said he was not optimistic, as his understanding is that the problem is widespread throughout a county that has been pummeled this winter by numerous strong storms.
Guindi said the Department of Public Works (DPW) uses about 100 tons of salt per storm.
“Everybody’s having an issue,” he said.
Guindi said the salt issue is not one of funding.
“We actually did budget for this,” he said, explaining that the council tried to plan for a worst-case-scenario winter. However, it is a matter of physically getting the salt from the state to the borough.
DPW Director Adriano Soares said during the meeting that the salt delivery was scheduled for Jan. 27 but has been indefinitely delayed. He said he has never encountered a situation like this before.
Guindi also stressed that he had nothing but praise for what the DPW has been able to do in response to an especially challenging winter. He said many have been working overtime to try to keep the roads clear, adding that other borough workers also have been going above and beyond to assist with storm response as well.
Guindi added that the DPW has been trying to stretch what’s available by mixing the existing salt with sand. Soares said his crew would do that again this week. However, not having any salt means there would be no melting of what is on the ground to try to make the roads more traversable.
Guindi — who is a volunteer firefighter — said that as part of the storm response, Fire Department members have been routinely checking in on the elderly.
Prior to the concern at Monday’s meeting about salt levels, Mayor John Krenzel said the borough had been responding well to the storms, and that the DPW was doing “an excellent job.” He added that the DPW has also been successfully managing both snow removal and garbage pickup.
Krenzel, Guindi and Borough Administrator Frederick Carr all reported that there have been individual complaints regarding snow removal.
“I am afraid that we are just not used to snowy winters anymore,” Krenzel said.
“There will always be those who complain,” Carr said. “DPW did a first-rate job.”