Municipalities across northern Westmoreland County are reporting issues with getting timely road salt deliveries from a new supplier under a state contract in which they participate.

Officials in New Kensington, Lower Burrell and Vandergrift said they have had issues receiving deliveries from Compass Minerals, the supplier for Westmoreland and other counties under a state contract.

Only one, Allegheny Township, when contacted by the Tribune-Review on Tuesday said they have had no problems.

Allegheny Township Supervisor Jamie Morabito said the township has a fully stocked supply of road salt and hasn’t had any order delays.

“We’ve had no issues with them whatsoever,” Morabito said. “They’ve been spot on with their deliveries.”

Morabito said the township keeps 600 tons of salt at the ready for winter weather use.

“We try and stay ahead of the storms, and we order once a week or every other week depending on the expected weather,” Morabito said.

At a council meeting Monday, New Kensington Councilman Tim DiMaio said salt deliveries from Compass Minerals are taking longer to arrive than the five-to-seven working days allotted in the agreement. An order the city placed for 300 tons of salt on Jan. 25 took nine days to arrive, while an order for 600 tons placed on Jan. 26 had yet to arrive and was past the deadline, he said.

With the supplier the city used last year, DiMaio said, salt arrived within three hours from Freeport. Orders with Compass are coming from West Elizabeth, he said.

DiMaio said New Kensington’s understanding is that it is not a supply problem but rather a transportation issue. Vandergrift Councilwoman Christine Wilson said a dispatcher from Compass Minerals cited a lack of truck drivers as the reason for delayed deliveries.

In response to a request for comment, Compass Minerals said: “During periods of high demand, brief backlogs can occur. At Compass Minerals, we work diligently to honor our customer commitments and remain focused on safely delivering to help keep roadways safe during winter weather.”

The state’s Department of General Services oversees the state’s cooperative purchasing program, known as Costars, which the salt contract falls under, spokesman Troy Thompson said.

Thompson said no concerns out of Westmoreland have been reported to the department for more than a month, and there have been only three total. He encouraged municipalities to contact the department if they are having problems.

“This particular supplier has been responsive in making sure that folks are getting their deliveries,” he said. “They jump right on it and get the deliveries out when we’re made aware of any issues.”

Lower Burrell is expecting two deliveries from Compass Minerals on Wednesday and Feb. 16, public works Director Todd Giammatteo said.

But setting up those deliveries hasn’t been easy, he said.

“If our coordinator Michelle Hatbob wouldn’t have been so persistent, we would be in the same boat as New Kensington and other communities,” Giammatteo said.

Hatbob called Compass one or more times a day to make the arrangements, he said.

Lower Burrell still has about 500 tons of salt on hand. The city is helping neighboring communities who are in need of salt before their next shipment, Giammatteo said.

Wilson said Vandergrift’s last salt delivery from Compass Minerals came outside the seven-day guarantee window.

She said borough officials called Compass last week asking about when they could expect delivery. The borough received the several-hundred-ton order Monday.

Wilson said the first salt delivery went off without a hitch.

“The first time it came in four days, and that was good,” she said.

Delivery of the second order took “well past the seven days,” Wilson said, but she couldn’t say exactly how long it was.

New Kensington looked into getting salt from another company but found it would cost substantially more, city Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti said.

Rather than participate in the state contract, New Kensington Solicitor Tony Vigilante said the city could seek bids for a supplier on its own but would have to pay the costs of doing so.

Councilman Todd Mentecki brought up the possibility of New Kensington securing two suppliers in the future and requiring that they be closer to the city so deliveries are more prompt.

Because of the uncertainty over when orders will arrive, DiMaio said New Kensington has been mixing road salt with antiskid material to conserve salt. He praised city crews for their efforts at keeping roads clear through the recent bouts of snow and ice.

And to be sure New Kensington has salt when it needs it, DiMaio said, the city placed an order for 1,000 tons. Since the city’s salt shed holds up to 780 tons, it will be kept at the industrial park.

Despite the delivery concerns, New Kensington council approved an agreement to allow the New Kensington-Arnold School District to take salt for use in its parking lots. The school district will reimburse the city for the cost of the salt it uses, Scarpiniti said.

Staff writers Mary Ann Thomas and Joyce Hanz contributed to this report.

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