Farmington

Sand and salt for the town are not holding up well, Public Works Director Denis Castonguay said.

“We have been hauling winter sand for a week, and we put up 800 yards more than what was in our shed, but we’re using it as fast as it comes in,” he said. The town normally orders 4,000 yards but has already used 5,000 this winter.

“Salt supplies are OK as we order as we need it, but the problem is the shortage of salt. Right now we’re in a two-week backlog on our order,” Castonguay said.

There is enough left over for the predicted storm this weekend.

So far, budget items are holding up, although he is starting to get more repair needs on the equipment. “It’s getting tired, as are the operators,” he said.

Oxford

Town Manager Michael Chammings said it has been difficult to get salt, and the town has spent 10 percent more than anticipated, so far, this season. There is enough salt to take the town through one more storm, he said. Although certain line items such as salt and overtime may go over, Chammings said he expects to be able to keep within the $460,000 overall department budget.

Wilton

The salt and sand budget for the town is pretty close, assistant Town Manager Barbara Vining said. The salt budget has not gone over but probably will if it keeps up.

Road foreman John Welch has had more sand hauled in, but the town has pretty much used up the sand budget, she added

“We’ve had it so easy for so long, but it’s hard to tell what winter highway budget needs will be,” she added.

The eight full-time crew members and one part-timer have been getting a lot of overtime lately so it’s going to be close to budget; it’s very tight, she said.

Peru

Peru has ordered 300 yards of sand to finish the year. It is still within its budget because of changing the fiscal year from March to June, Town Clerk Vera Parent said. The January-to- June budget for roads has not been exhausted. The roads were plowed and sanded for buses to run Wednesday.

Kingfield

The town has exceeded its sand budget for the 2007-08 season but is not in dire straits, Administrative Assistant Greg Davis said.

There’s enough salt to get through the season now that temperatures are rising and daylight-saving time is near, he said. The time change will occur Sunday, March 9.

Expenses for the Public Works Department did not go over budget for 2007 although the two-man, full-time crew has averaged more overtime this year.

During the last big storm, they worked 65 hours with 25 of it in overtime, he said.

Buckfield

Town Manager Glen Holmes said the town got a load of salt from New Hampshire on Tuesday and expected another Wednesday. Sand is not an issue as far as supply goes, and they are still screening. He says they are still within budget, though they have paid more overtime than usual.

Harrison

Road Commissioner Mike Thorne said the town is already $5,700 in the red due to overtime costs and salt. He expects to be overbudget by as much as $25,000 by the time the plowing season ends.

Although the cost of salt has skyrocketed, Thorne said getting it was not a problem until a few weeks ago when the town had to send its truck to South Portland to pick it up when the company’s truck couldn’t deliver. A salt storage shed in town has made storage of the material easier, he said.

“I always look at the positive,” he said.

Jay

Early Tuesday night, highway foreman John Johnson gave selectmen an update on the budget pertaining to snow removal.

He had done the same two weeks prior.

“We are about $53,000 over budget in three areas: contract services, fuel and repairs,” Johnson said.

The town hired an excavator and two trucks to try and get caught up on snow removal.

“It’s going to get worse,” Johnson said, talking about more storms predicted.

So far 1,600 tons of the 2,000 tons of salt, estimated to be needed, has already been used, Johnson said.

He has enough salt for three more storms (including Tuesday’s) if they just salt the major roads, about 30 miles, at the end of each storm, he said.

The town has enough money to buy 200 more tons of salt, he said.

Salt is scarce but there are a couple of places that are selling it for $64 and $84 a ton, Johnson said, which is more than the nearly $60 a ton paid in a contract price for the season.

Johnson was authorized to buy more salt if he could get it.

“From everything I’m reading, every town in the state is going through the same thing, selectmen’s Chairman Bill Harlow said. “We have to do what we have to do to keep these roads as safe as we can.”

Livermore and Livermore Falls

Like Livermore Falls did recently, Livermore just bought more sand to restock the pile to get the town through the season. It was held up a bit by lack of salt availability, said Kurt Schaub, Livermore select board administrative assistant. They now have a decent supply in the shed, he added.

The Highway Department is $3,331 over the $21,000 fuel budget and about $4,500 over the $12,500 sand budget and wages are getting tight., Schaub said They haven’t gone over the total highway budget, he said, but have spent 83.42 percent of it and there are several months left in the fiscal year, he added.

Rangeley

“We’re doing fine. We’re going to be OK,” Rangeley Town Manager Perry Ellsworth said. He doesn’t expect the highway budget to go over, though they may have to do less work this spring.

“We’ll meet the budget,” Ellsworth said. “We’re short on sand and we intend to get some.”

They have made accommodations, Ellsworth said, to get up to 500 yards of sand/salt mix if needed.