People driving on North O’Keefe Street in late November can expect to see a new salt storage facility at the Cass County Road Commission’s gravel pit.

The road commissioners on Thursday, Sept. 16 authorized expenditures of up to $135,000 for the construction of a salt barn that will be 55 feet wide by 80 feet long with 10 foot high concrete walls and a truss system covered with a fabric roof.

The road commission uses more than 1,500 tons of salt a year on county roads at a cost of about $60 a ton. And until this year, the salt has been mixed with sand and stored in the agency’s parking lot where the salt dissolves as it is exposed to the winter weather.

The new facility, which is expected to be completed within six weeks, is being constructed by the A.K. Equipment Corp. of Zeeland, Mich. The company submitted a bid of $235,437 for two buildings, as originally specified, but the road commissioners decided upon one larger facility, thus cutting the cost in half.

With the inside storage, the road commission will have salt delivered weekly instead of twice in the winter months, said Louis Csokasy, road commission manager.