Logan Walter, age 9, shows off his family’s chicken coop in residential Blue Earth. The Walter family urged the City Council to reconsider their stance on urban chickens at a City Council meeting on Aug. 15.

For the past few weeks it has been nothing but ‘the birds and the bees’ for the Blue Earth City Council. Now, the group can add dogs to the menagerie following a meeting held on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

In a continued quest to clarify the city’s stance on urban chickens, city attorney David Frundt brought forth Ordinance 22-16 for a second reading at the meeting.

If passed, the ordinance would repeal the lawful keeping of urban chickens and honeybees by permit, and declare chicken permits which have already been issued to Blue Earth residents valid until their date of expiration.

The ordinance would address a discrepancy in Blue Earth’s City Code. Though some residents have been issued chicken permits, the code technically defines chickens as farm animals, which are not allowed to be kept within city limits.

There are also conflicting ordinances regarding urban honeybees. Ordinance 22-16 would clarify urban honeybee-keeping as unlawful according to City Code.

Upon reviewing Ordinance 22-16 on Sept. 6, council member John Huisman announced, “I would like us to consider voting it down, and asking our city attorney to draw up an ordinance that separates the bees from the chickens so the bees could be denied, and the chickens could go forward.” 

Huisman cited the five families who have been issued permits to keep chickens in Blue Earth, reasoning, “They’ve been given the opportunity to have chickens. Now, all of a sudden, because of other circumstances, we are taking that away from them. I would find that a little unsettling if I were one of those families.” 

Mayor Rick Scholtes agreed with Huisman. He suggested a different route toward allowing urban chickens by permit, however.

Scholtes said it would be easiest if the council started by passing Ordinance 22-16, thereby repealing the subsections of the City Code which address urban chickens and honeybees.

Then, the council could direct Frundt to draft an entirely new ordinance allowing urban chickens by permit, and direct him to draw up a new definition of farm animals which does not include chickens.

Following Scholtes’ suggestion, the council approved Ordinance 22-16 on a 5-1 vote, with Huisman opposed.

Huisman then motioned for Frundt to draw up a new definition of farm animals which excludes chickens, and draft an ordinance governing urban chicken keeping in Blue Earth.

The motion passed on a 4-2 vote, with council members Russ Erichsrud and Ann Hanna in opposition.

The council discussed how it wants to handle issuing permits to hopeful urban chicken owners.

They agreed permit holders will receive violations if they fail to meet the city’s conditions for urban chicken keeping. They will lose their permit if they receive more than two violations.

The council also decided that City Hall should notify permit applicants’ abutting neighbors via letter that their neighbor may be keeping chickens.

Discussion shifted to dogs when city administrator Mary Kennedy noted recent issues with the Faribault County Humane Society (FCHS)’s use of the city’s impound building.

Kennedy said there have been two recent occasions when the city was unable to access the impound building for weeks at a time because a dog was quarantined there by the FCHS.

The lack of access became an issue last August when the Blue Earth Police Department was unable to use the impound building to hold an aggressive stray dog.

Kennedy recommended the City Council instate a deadline for the FCHS to relocate to the new facility they have secured, which is currently under renovation. This would free the impound building for the city’s use.

“I think, for our own purposes, we need to have access to our building at all times,” Kennedy said.

Huisman motioned to notify the FCHS they must relocate to their new facility by Nov. 1 of this year, which passed unanimously.

The council then voted to notify the Joint Powers Committee that Blue Earth will be terminating its agreement with the committee by Dec. 31.

The implications of Blue Earth’s withdrawal from the committee will primarily affect neighboring areas such as Elmore and Winnebago which have, until recently, been granted use of the city’s impound building to hold stray animals.

Kennedy will also work with the Blue Earth Police Department to determine the number of stray animals the department is handling on a yearly basis and the potential need and impact of hiring a service provider to care for stray animals.

In other business, the Blue Earth City Council: 

• Proclaimed September, 2022 as Kiwanis Month in Blue Earth.

• Met Heidi Schutt, the Blue Earth Community Library and Fossil Discovery Center’s new director.

• Approved a routine update to the city’s franchise agreement with Bevcomm.

• Approved a $35,000 agreement with Bolton & Menk for general engineering services. Bolton & Menk will conduct a preliminary study of North Ramsey, Moore and Third Streets for infrastructure improvements.

• Pledged City Council funds to offset a recent increase to the cost of lunches at the Senior Center. The council hopes to keep the meals at a $3 cost to Senior Center members.

• Accepted a $3,000 offer from G & S Drainage Excavation to purchase city-owned property.