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Walworth County pushes municipal shift to brine; solar-salt inventory purchase approved
Summary
The Public Works Committee approved a solar-salt inventory purchase and discussed a proposed ordinance to encourage municipalities to adopt brine and modern winter-maintenance practices, highlighting training, municipal leverage, and ongoing local pilots.
The Walworth County Public Works Committee on March 17 approved a multi-year move toward solar salt and brine-based winter maintenance and discussed an ordinance change aimed at encouraging municipalities to adopt modern practices.
Public Works staff Rich said the county had run trials with different solar-salt products and that the trials “are gonna save our equipment” and reduce maintenance on brine-making equipment. He told the committee the county partnered with other counties to build buying power and hoped the price gap between rock salt and solar salt would narrow as demand shifted. Rich also noted a trial volume of about 70,000 gallons of brine had been used to evaluate options (amounts and specific contract figures were not specified in the transcript).
The committee debated a proposed amendment to section 16-23 of the Walworth County Code of Ordinances to change how the county distributes salt to municipalities. Public Works staff Barry told the committee the goal is to “encourage more up to date winter maintenance practices” and to use the county’s storage and contracting leverage to press for training and adoption of brine and reduced sand-salt mixes.
Barry said roughly 70% of municipalities have either attended training, tried brine, or attempted to incorporate brine into operations; a small number remain resistant. He offered several examples of local uptake: Lake Geneva and East Troy were cited as local governments implementing the changes, and the Village of Walworth built its own small brine maker at low cost and treated about 15 miles as a pilot. Barry described the county’s municipal engagement meetings (held about three times a year) as a central way to reach clerks, elected officials and public-works staff.
Committee members discussed incentives and practical steps for smaller towns, including whether the county could offer retired tanks or equipment at discount rather than auction. Barry and others said some municipality staffers have built their own systems using common materials and that the county had in some instances sold older tanks or offered surplus equipment directly to local governments.
On the procurement side, Rich and Barry described a cooperative purchasing approach and MOUs that track how much salt each municipality stores in county facilities. They also explained the county previously froze allowable storage levels by ordinance and will use that leverage in the new language to encourage conversion away from sand-salt mixes.
The committee voted by voice to approve the solar-salt inventory purchase (motion and second on the record; individual roll-call votes were not recorded in the transcript). The committee later approved the ordinance amendment relating to salt distribution by voice vote.
Why it matters: The items affect how winter materials are purchased, stored and distributed across Walworth County and are pitched as both fiscal and environmental measures (less abrasive material, reduced equipment maintenance). Adoption by municipalities could shift costs and operations for many local public-works departments.
Votes and next steps: The solar-salt inventory purchase was approved and the committee approved the recommended ordinance change; staff said they will continue municipal engagement meetings, track training participation, and share compliance data with supervisors. Specific procurement contract terms and total dollar amounts were not specified in the transcript.
