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City officials will be grappling with the best way to move forward on the highly criticized snow and ice control program well into the summer before providing a recommendation to council.

Enraged residents ranging from mechanics to a chemical engineer made their case Wednesday to council’s community and public services committee that the current anti-icing application of calcium chloride brine is causing unprecedented corrosion to vehicles, garages and even mouse traps.

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But the 617,171 litres of calcium chloride used this winter was eight times less than the previous year — having only been sprayed twice due to continuously bitter conditions.

This left councillors searching for answers on what the problem might be before they make a decision in August on whether or not to continue with the pilot project.

Ward 9 Coun. Tim Cartmell, a civil engineer, said he’s certain the brine isn’t the only issue, but also the amount of salt being used on city roads in general since the move away from sand. This winter saw a 14 per cent increase in the amount of traditional salt dumped on streets, totalling 42,082 tonnes.