Road salt is a red-hot commodity during this cold snap that's expected to continue into next week.
And, unlike in Vancouver, municipalities in the Tri-Cities say they won't be giving any away with demand so high.
Coquitlam has turned away requests for road salt from Port Moody and Vancouver and, over the past few weeks, has sold brine to Port Moody.
Since Dec. 1, the city of Coquitlam has gone through about 3,600 tonnes of salt to make its roads safe while Port Coquitlam has used up 1,100 tonnes versus Port Moody's 800 tonnes.
Late last month, Port Moody city officials placed an order for another 120 tonnes from a Saskatchewan supplier; it's due later this month.
"We are now mixing salt and sand to extend our supply and to suit the colder conditions where salt is less effective," city spokesperson Rosemary Lodge said.
Home and business owners are also having a hard time finding road salt.
Jake Revill of PoCo Building Supplies said the product has been flying off the shelves. "We typically sell out on the same day as the new supplies arrive," he said.
As of Dec. 1, the Mary Hill Road store has sold more than 2,300 bags of rock salt (in 10-, 20- and 40-kg weights) plus nearly 350 50-pound bags of salt and sand mix. Ice-Melt products, snow shovels, windshield washer fluid, scrapers and Lock De-Icers are also going fast, Revill said.
Meanwhile, the snowy conditions have put pressure on the city budgets.
Gorana Cabral, Coquitlam's budget manager, said the municipality has $980,000 to cover costs for extreme weather in 2016— that is, for snow removal, hazardous tree removal, high winds and flooding. "The city has spent approximately $1.5 million of this budget as of Dec. 31, of which $1.12 million or 114% was spent from Dec. 1 to 31," she said.
Port Moody has also gone over its 2016 budget for snow removal. It set aside $263,319 and has spent about $309,300 so far — $176,000 in December alone.
And in Port Coquitlam, public works manager Dave Kidd said the city used its entire annual snow removal budget last month. "In comparison, last year during the same time frame, we spent approximately 40% of our budget and used 120 tonnes of salt," he said.
PoCo city hall expects to get another shipment of road salt on Jan. 19 — none of which will be available for residents or business owners, city spokesperson Pardeep Purewal said.
jcleugh@tricitynews.com
