The Blue Earth City Council reviewed its one-time sewer forgiveness policy on Monday, Sept. 18.

Coincidentally, the discussion followed the approval of three sewer forgiveness requests which had been added to the council’s agenda that evening.

Blue Earth has allowed residents a one-time credit to the city’s sewer portion of their Blue Earth Light & Water (BELW) bill for roughly a decade. Residents typically use the program following an unprecedented spike in their sewer bill due to plumbing malfunctions.

“According to records, the sewer forgiveness has been utilized 28 times since 2012, costing a total of $11,079.60,” city administrator Mary Kennedy reported. “Although the credits have varied dramatically, the average credit is $395.70, with the lowest being $12.21 and the highest being $2,198.80.” 

Residents’ one-time credits are calculated based on their average monthly usage. They are credited the difference between their average usage and their recent high usage.

“The council has discussed adding parameters to the program,” Kennedy said. “Is the council interested in setting minimum and maximum dollar amounts for the one-time forgiveness program?” 

She also presented a draft of a sewer forgiveness request application, suggesting that an official form would cut down on the amount of paperwork city staff needs to process to grant sewer forgiveness credits.

Kennedy added that, to the best of her knowledge, the council has never officially approved the sewer forgiveness program, nor does the program have a formal written policy.

“If you want to keep it open-ended, that’s fine, but it makes things a little difficult on our end,” she concluded.

“A policy would give this more weight,” council member Stephanie Walter considered. “It’s there, it’s in writing.” 

She also observed that putting the policy in writing might help residents understand that they can only request sewer forgiveness once.

The council discussed whether parameters should be set regarding how large or small of a sewer credit residents can request. The council was concerned that residents who request a credit as low as $12 do not understand that they can only request a sewer forgiveness credit once.

“Do they know that they don’t ever – no matter what happens – get to come back and ask forgiveness?” council member Jacque Drew inquired.

“It’s tough to say. It’s subjective,” Dan Ristau replied. “$12 may be a lot to someone.”

The council directed Kennedy to consult other cities’ sewer forgiveness program policies and bring her research to a future meeting for the council’s consideration.

The council also granted several one-time sewer forgiveness requests on Sept. 18. The owner of 709 S. Galbraith Street was credited $120.70 to their account, the owner of 324 S. Ramsey Street was credited $499.73, and the owner of 515 E. 21st Street was credited $530.79.

In other business, the Blue Earth City Council: 

• Heard more public comment regarding a proposal to relocate the Senior Center from its downtown location to an available space at St. Luke’s Lutheran Care Center.

“I want to know the real reason why you want to move (the Senior Center) when you have a very nice facility right here (downtown),” one resident said.

Prior to opening the meeting to public comment, Ristau informed the public that the City Council will not be reviewing the proposal to move the Senior Center until the 2024 budget has been completed.

“We are aware of questions regarding the proposal,” he said. “We will address any comments and questions during future meetings.” 

• Heard a comment from a member of the public about the condition of the city’s dog park. She was primarily concerned about an overgrowth of thorny weeds at the facility.

• Received an update from Bolton & Menk engineer Ben Rosol on the progress of the 2023 Street Improvement Project.

“The goal is to have all curb installed by the end of this week,” he said.

• Approved Ordinance 23-05 conveying two vacant city-owned lots to the Housing and Redevelopment Authority for $1.

• Approved a South Central Drug Investigation Unit Joint Powers Agreement. The Drug Investigation Unit is responsible for investigating narcotic-related and violent crimes in the area.

• Deferred property tax assessments in the amount of $9,646.57 for the owner of the property at 310 E. Fourth Street. The owner is a senior citizen who works part-time due to a disability.

• Agreed to take no action regarding Open Door Health Center’s request to hold an event in Blue Earth on Oct. 11, as the request did not state where the event would be held.