Latest local news, weather and high school sports for Tri-State area

QUINCY, ILL. -- On the first day of spring, the Tri-States have seen only a handful of measurable snowfalls, leaving an excess of winter weather supplies.

The mild winter is something that many places are not complaining about.

"It's been an absolutely fantastic winter," Interim Director of Central Services Marty Stegeman said.

Last winter, much of the Midwest experienced blizzard conditions, and Quincy saw more than a foot and a half snowfall during the major storm.

This year, the Tri-States was ranked in the top ten warmest winters in history. Quincy's Central Services says they've used less than 10% of the salt they purchased for this year. It held a contract that required them to take at least 80% of the amount of salt they contracted.

"This year we had quite a bit in reserve. We didn't use a lot. That salt has been stored inside so it'll be good for next year. We're going to cut back on what we order next year, so the actual budget impact that we see will come in the 2013 year," Stegeman said.

Central Services can now use the excess money in their budget to cover rising fuel costs. Some Tri-States businesses felt the impact of the mild winter in a much different way.

"We did do a lot of repacking of winter supplies this year because, of course, we never did get the weather we anticipated. With the salt, there's not much you can do. We did sell some of it at a marked down price, but face the facts folks, if there's not ice people don't need ice melt and there's really no other use for the salt," Joel Obert, the store manager at Farm and Home Supply, said.

The store did sell some of their inventory, such as apparel, at a large discount. They were able to clear out winter clothes, but saw no reason to discount merchandise such as ice melt because they had stoage space in their warehouse.

What the mild winter lost in sales, the early spring made up for in lawn and garden sales. Usually Farm and Home Supply sees its lawn and garden sales push start in mid-April, but it has seen those sales start about a month early.

"We're okay to give up to the winter code and pack that stuff up and we're more than happy to sell what we're selling today," Obert said.

Grass and vegetables seeds have been some of the top sellers so far.