Should the county invest in salt mines ?

Somehow, over crowding at the jail seems to have become a complete non issue. Salt on the other hand seems to have become an issue.
While Cincinnati intends to pay $75/ton, Hamilton county, flush with cash, is intending to spend $106/ton. Cincinnati intends to buy less salt & salt less. This, no doubt, is part of John Cranley's agenda of focussing on core services.
But salt prices have gone up significantly. HamCo is paying more than twice what it paid last year.
So, here's my idea, and it's not a new one. The BiC historians actually came up with this cost saver. Buy some salt mines & have county prisoners work the things.
Sure there would be some up front costs and pesky left wing human rights organisations might squawk, but this is SWOH, where we like going medieval.
Anyway, hope the Windbag is keeping an eye out on this.