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 supply during heavy winters and to secure lower bulk purchasing rates. “We believe having 2,500 tons in stock during the year is what we need,” Deturi said, adding that purchases are typically staged across the season rather than in a single delivery.

Staff summarized historic and pilot performance data. The presentation noted that staff’s use of a sugar‑based additive (referred to in the meeting as “beet heat”) reduced granular application from about 350 to about 200 pounds per lane‑mile in trial use, which staff said equated to roughly a 42% reduction in salt applied per mile and a 35% cost savings per lane‑mile in those tests. The city’s typical baseline seasonal usage over the past decade was described as roughly 2,000 tons, with historical highs near 2,400 tons and lows near 800 tons; staff said the city had recently run short during an especially active winter.

Staff recommended several equipment and facility steps: - Approve purchase requests coming to the commission on March 17 to secure 2,000 tons (staff described this as the next procurement step toward the 2,500‑ton target) and to approve a V‑box hybrid spreader with liquid applicator compatible with trucks recently procured. - Upfit newly received trucks to allow hybrid liquid–solid application and install wing plows to clear multiple lanes per pass. - Continue operator training, refine application controllers, expand pre‑wet and liquid‑application options, and run a pilot route using a V‑box hybrid spreader on a route near the shop to compare performance. - Pursue a closed brine‑mixing and storage facility in future capital plans to permit multiple, precisely mixed liquids (staff referenced Emmett County as a model for on‑site mixing and storage).

Staff compared alternatives. They described calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) and other acetate products used on bridges and airports as less corrosive but dramatically more expensive (staff cited roughly $2,400 per ton for CMA versus about $73 per ton for rock salt). Staff told commissioners that some Michigan counties use mineral well brines and other blends at application rates they cited (examples included 75 gallons per lane‑mile and a 90:10 calcium chloride/beet blend used for single applications that can last 10–12 hours). Kalkaska County and others are piloting V‑box spreaders with spray bars for intersection treatments; staff said they will bring a compatible V‑box purchase request to the commission.

Commissioners asked for more operational detail and data. Commissioner Debbie asked for a season‑by‑season table showing beginning inventory, purchases and use; Deturi and Webber said staff can prepare comparable official numbers. Commissioner Heather and others pressed staff to explain why the recommended 2,500‑ton target was higher than recent purchases; staff said the target is a safety stock to ensure supply in bad winters and to secure bulk buying discounts.

Environmental nonprofit Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay spoke in public comment in support of salt‑reduction work and noted chloride monitoring in local streams. Sarah Yuren, Program Director, said her organization is meeting with staff to advise on best management practices for runoff and chloride pollution.

Staff emphasized tradeoffs: safety for emergency vehicles and the public remains the priority, and any changes to levels of service for local roads would be a commission decision. No formal procurement vote was recorded at the meeting; staff said formal purchase requests (salt deliveries and equipment) will be presented to the commission at upcoming meetings for approval.