HERMON – Residents gave the nod Wednesday to town officials to build a salt shed on the Fuller Road. The approval prompted one voter to commend the town for thinking outside the box to build the shed.

With the town acting as the general contractor for the project and buying the materials itself, the $35,000 salt shed comes in more than $25,000 lower than the lowest bids that came in last fall for the project.

The new salt shed will allow the town to store salt sheltered from the elements while allowing it to avoid running out of salt as it has in past years, said Town Manager Clint Deschene. When that has happened, the town has ended up paying higher prices – sometimes triple the cost – to get replacement salt. Deschene said that the town would be able to buy salt at times when the prices are the lowest and store it until it’s needed in winter.

Resident Ed Marsh told town councilors and those attending the special town meeting that he appreciated that the town was looking at cost-saving ways to do things.