Homewood is Running Out of Salt

A particularly harsh winter has put a much bigger dent in Homewood’s salt supply than anticipated.

Village Manager Jim Marino cautioned residents during Tuesday night’s village board meeting that the village will now be reserving their dwindling salt supply for priority areas, such as intersections and roads with inclines. Side streets will not be getting much attention, anymore.

“It’s not just us, it’s all municipalities,” Marino said. 

In addition to the heavy salt use, this winter has also been costly on the village in terms of overtime pay for public works employees—especially since much of the snow has occurred after 5 p.m. and on the weekends, according to Marino. 

A big difference from last year, when a mild winter saved Homewood “$280,000 in salt alone.”