Traverse City staff outline salt-reduction plan, recommend 2,500-ton inventory target and equipment pilots

Frank Deturi, presenter, and Traverse City public works staff detailed measures the city is pursuing to reduce rock‑salt use on streets while keeping routes safe during winter storms.

Deturi described a mix of near‑term operational steps, longer‑term facility investments and equipment pilots. He and operations staff stressed pre‑wetting granular salt with brine and “beet heat” blends, equipment upgrades on new trucks, and a small, controlled pilot of a hybrid liquid–solid V‑box spreader at intersections. Staff also recommended maintaining a 2,500‑ton salt inventory as a seasonal “safety stock” to ensure supply in a heavy or freeze‑thaw winter.

The presentation gave technical and financial context. Chris Webber, Street Superintendent, explained that the city converts some purchased rock salt into a 23% salt brine that is blended with beet by‑product (what staff called “beet heat”) and applied as a pre‑wet. Webber said the current pre‑wet recipe is about 15 gallons per ton of beet heat combined with a 23% salt brine; he described two 9,000‑gallon mixing tanks the city now uses and how those materials are stored.

Deturi and Webber said the city’s target storage is 2,500 tons to ensure…