City reaches out-of-court settlement
The City of Blue Earth reached an out-of-court settlement involving two construction companies and a building in the industrial park.
The city council went into closed session at their meeting last Monday to discuss the proposed settlement with their attorney.
Re-opening the meeting to the public, the council voted to accept the proposal.
In it, the city will receive a total of $12,000 from two firms. Both United Builders and Northland Construction agreed to reimburse the city $6,000 each for work done on the Century building.
The claims dealt with problems with the ridge cap on the roof, according to Kathy Bailey, city administrator.
The building has been used for storage by Kerry Group, in the industrial park, Bailey says.
She added that since the lawsuit involved insurance claims, the city was represented by an attorney from the League of Minnesota Cities, the city’s insurance carrier.
The settlement does not affect any other pending lawsuits with other companies, the attorney stated.
Other Business
The council also made several decisions on pending issues. Among those were:
– Agreed to forgive a $750 annual rental fee to the I-90 Speedway Go-Kart Association.
– Agreed to charge the Blue Earth Area Chamber of Commerce an annual rent of $100 for the space for the new Giant Museum. The original lease called for the chamber to also pay for the utilities, at an estimated cost of $2,000 per year. The city will now cover that expense.
– Discussed budgeting for commercial building demolition for next year. Bailey says there is $50,000 currently in a fund for this purpose, but that taking down one building, at the corner of Main and Fifth Streets, could cost that much.