When the snow piles go up the salt piles go down.

Bluffton's salt supply is about one bin full, according to Jamie Mehaffie, village administrator. "We have two bins, which each hold nearly 75 tons of salt," he told Bluffton council on Monday night.

"We have ordered another 75 tons of salt. This would put us slightly over our reserve tonnage allotment for the year, but we would still have access to an additional 30 tons if we need it and our supplier has it available," he said.

Mehaffie had hoped to finish the winter with a full stock pile of sale, based upon the going rate for salt this year.

In the past six weeks, the village has experienced over 25 inches of snowfall.

In other council news, the council approved a Lawn Avenue storm sewer project for this summer. Beaverdam Contracting was awarded the job, not to exceed $44,925.

The project involves a line on Lawn Avenue from Vine Street to the alley that connects Jackson and Lawn, just north of Elm Street. The project will replace a dilapidated line that drains from as far away as Main Street through the A to Z property.

Council approved documents presented at the meeting, which were a statement of net assets of the village as of Dec. 31, 2010. The statement shows with village total net assets at $3,717,148.

A breakdown of that total follows:

Restricted for:
Capital projects $1,092,385
Debt service $191,858
Other $619,302
Permanent fund purposes:
Non-expendable $1,851
Unrestricted $1,809,751

Several council committee meetings were set on Monday:

Feb. 28
7 p.m. - safety committee
7:30 p.m. - recreation committee
8 p.m. - council meeting
Following council meeting - village records commission

March 14
7 p.m. - utility committee
8 p.m. - council meeting

March 28
7 p.m. - street and alleys committee
8 p.m. - council