The mild winter resulted in considerable savings for the Starke County Highway Department. Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the county commissioners Monday evening they used 25 percent less sand and 50 percent less salt compared to last year.
He says that gives the county a sizeable reserve for next year. Ritzler says the county also used less diesel fuel than in prior years since plow trucks weren’t out as often. All of the winter equipment is in storage, and the trucks have been refitted for summer operations. Crews also took care of potholes and other frost repairs last month. Ritzler says there wasn’t much to fix this year.
