Greenfield gets salt shipment while Cudahy is conserving

GREENFIELD (WITI) -- The first salt shipment for 2014 arrived on January 2nd in Greenfield, as officials say December took its toll on the salt supply. Meanwhile, in Cudahy, officials are working to conserve salt as winter wears on.

"Equipment's holding up. The crew has not had too much of a holiday season at all. They've been working pretty steady. Our salt situation's getting a little low. We're through about half of our allocation for this season," Mary Jo Lange, Cudahy's Director of Public Works said.

In Greenfield, it's a different story -- as the community received the first shipments of a 2,500-ton salt supply for 2014.

"We know how much we've used in the past and we calculate off our largest quantity usages and we order to be able to fulfill that large quantity. It was budgeted for 2013 and again for 2014," Dan Ewert, Greenfield Superintendent of Public Works said.

It may seem like Greenfield now has plenty of salt piled up, and it does -- but officials say the supply can go quickly.

In order to conserve salt, Cudahy will only spread it on main roads and at the intersections of residential areas.

"We will not be doing mid-blocks and we will not be salting alleys. We will be probably sanding alleys and not doing mid-blocks unless it's absolutely necessary," Lange said.

While this winter has tested equipment and supplies, officials in both communities say they're also monitoring the people who put them to use.

"If you see a plow driver out there, give him a big thank you. They gave up a lot of time over the holidays to keep the roads passable," Ewert said.