Roachdale streets to experience the 'Bite'

ROACHDALE -- As town halls across the northern United States utilize October sessions to prepare for looming winter weather, one small town nestled in northeastern Putnam County is proving to be no exception.

Special guest speaker Jay Walerstein, vice president of Road Solutions Inc. out of Indianapolis, presented a plan to the town of Roachdale Tuesday that would make de-icing its streets both more affordable and more reliable. The board unanimously approved the solution, to be implemented ahead of the winter season.

"We're a 15-year-old division of CPI Chemicals ... a 60-year-old chemical company in Indianapolis," Walerstein said. "Fifteen years ago we came across this extract ... from a big sugar beet (native to) Michigan. Sugar beets make up about 55-60 percent of the sugar we use in the United States. The beets go to the Bay City (Mich.) processing plants and then we buy the extract.

"When you put it with salt or put it with salt brine, it changes the salt drastically (and) for the better," Walerstein continued. "This week you should see four rail cars come in -- we're going to be storing liquid Ice Bite product."

The extract to which Walerstein refers is de-sugared sugar beet molasses, or "beet juice," to be stored at nearby Crop Production. According to Road Solutions Inc., sugar beet molasses "can be added to salt and brines, both manufactured and natural" and "lowers the temperature of the product mix and acts as a corrosion inhibitor." The solution is 100-percent organic and is considered to be environmentally friendly.

"Part of what this means is that your car will see up to 70 percent less corrosion through the winter," Walerstein added.

Walerstein cited several winter examples with which Hoosiers are undoubtedly familiar, including "hard-pack," or the layer of ice pressed onto the road by passing vehicles. This, he said, can also be overcome by the beet juice as plows typically cannot break through the hard-pack in extreme winter weather.

"Ice Bite will work down to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit," Walerstein said. "If it's minus 25 degrees (outside), we've got real problems anyway. You don't want to put salt down when it's lower than minus 10 degrees -- it wastes the city's money because it's not going to do anything except bounce off the street and end up in the sewer or in the grass. But if you have the treated salt, (Town Superintendent Jason Woodall) can take care of that in 30 minutes."

Another issue facing the town and its decision is the aging salt stores located in the town's municipal building. Woodall reported that the existing salt piles have become "rock hard" and are encapsulated in roughly six to eight inches of an unusable crust. Attempting to revitalize those salt stores, Woodall said, may end up costing the town more funds than the beet-juice solution.

Some background information regarding technicalities of the beet-juice mix includes specifics such as pavement temperatures, the amount of solution used and its respective melting time(s). For example, if street-pavement temperature is at 15 degrees Fahrenheit, 40-50 pounds of Ice Bite will be applied to every mile of road (of which Roachdale has between five and seven), taking less than one hour to dissolve and melt the ice -- even hard-pack.

For more information concerning Road Solutions Inc. and its many applications, visit www.roadsolutionsinc.com.

In other news

* Halloween hours have officially been set for Oct. 31 from 6-8 p.m. Town Marshal Mike Mahoy was present to concur the time and date for the Roachdale Police Department.

* Planning Commission member Ken Smith briefed the board on three crucial issues, including the wastewater treatment plant, of which a geo-technical report will be "under final review next week" in preparation for the installation of a new wet-well.

The second item on Smith's list concerned an update on the town's TIF boundaries. Initial boundaries have been delivered to the planning committee and, once the boundaries receive approval, an environmental impact study will take place before the boundaries are presented to various agencies. A draft copy of the boundaries' comprehensive plan has been delivered to the town board and will be the focus of Roachdale's Nov. 10 meeting.

Lastly, Smith said a zoning ordinance is needed for the TIF boundaries, therefore a board of zoning appeals must be formed so the boundaries can be implemented and adjusted. No action was taken pending approval of the Planning Commission.

* The town board approved budget proposals for 2016 totaling $708,000. General fund, $484,000; MBH, $120,000; LRS, $24,000; CGC, $60,000; and CCI, $20,000.

* Ordinance 7-2015, concerning planned-development of existing structures for apartment use, was approved. This, as stated by board member Zach Bowers, is an "effort to stall any apartment building in the downtown business district" as part of the Fire and Safety Commission's overall decision. The ordinance, which was placed on its second and final reading Tuesday, was approved.

The next town hall meeting in Roachdale is set to take place on Nov. 10 at 6 p.m.