Sample materials for the new City Hall at the former Wells Fargo building were on display at a Blue Earth City Council meeting held on Monday, March 18. Brunton Architects presented a preliminary layout for the space at a work session prior to the meeting.

On Monday, March 18, the Blue Earth City Council set the stage to resolve litigation which has been under negotiation for several months.

The council has been discussing the litigation in closed session since late 2023. It concerns a petition which was brought before the State Board of Municipal Boundaries in response to the proposed annexation agreement between the city of Blue Earth and the Township of Blue Earth City.

On March 18, city attorney David Frundt put a resolution for a new orderly annexation agreement in front of the council. The resolution, which is the result of negotiations between the city and the petitioners, would nullify the original 1976 Joint Resolution for Orderly Annexation which the city was intending to use to annex the township.

“In essence, what the council is doing in adopting this resolution is putting in place a new orderly annexation agreement which will annex the land immediately, without need of further hearings with the Department of Administration on this matter,” Frundt explained. “This agreement will expire five years from now, when the payment is complete, and there will be no further orderly annexation with the township and city unless we negotiate one going forward.”

The payment Frundt referred to is a tax reimbursement plan specified in the new Joint Resolution for Orderly Annexation. The township will be reimbursed for lost taxes on the annexed property through the plan.

Per the resolution, if the annexation is effective on or before Aug. 1 in a given year, the city can levy taxes on the annexed area beginning that year.

If the annexation is effective after Aug.1, the township may continue to levy taxes on the annexed area for that year.

The resolution also states that the city of Blue Earth will reimburse the township for property taxes associated with the annexed property.

Blue Earth will pay the township a total of $50,000 over the next five years, with the first payment of $10,000 taking place on Jan. 1, 2025.

The council approved the resolution, and the Township of Blue Earth City Board was expected to adopt the resolution at a meeting held the next evening, on Tuesday, March 19.

The Blue Earth City Council also voted to dismiss the current petition which is before the State Board of Municipal Boundaries. The matter was expected to be fully settled by Thursday, March 21.

The council had a special meeting scheduled at 5 p.m. that evening to update the public on the annexation proceedings. The meeting was to be held in the Ag Center conference room.

A significant portion of the March 18 meeting was dedicated to the final assessment hearing for the 2024 Street and Utility Improvement Project, for which construction is slated to take place this summer.

The project involves the full reconstruction of Rice Street, from Seventh Street to First Street. A block of Second Street between Rice and Gorman Streets will also be reconstructed, as will a block of First Street between Rice Street and the railroad tracks.

Additionally, portions of 10th and 11th Streets between Rice and Ramsey Streets are slated for mill and overlay.

The project’s total estimated cost is $3,538,107, and $559,655 of that cost will be covered by assessments against benefiting property owners.

“The assessments won’t be levied until 2026,” city engineer Ben Rosol clarified.

The project’s remaining cost will be financed through several means, including a general obligation bond.

“That’s common,” Rosol observed. “It is a 15-year bond with a 3.5 percent interest rate.”

The project will also be funded through sanitary sewer and water rates, and the city’s Storm Sewer and Street Funds.

Following the hearing, the City Council adopted the final assessments for the project.

“Right now, we’re scheduled to open bids on April 1,” Rosol added. “Based on the bids, the council will either award that contract for construction or reconvene.”

In other business, the Blue Earth City Council:

• Reviewed and approved the preliminary layout for City Hall, which is expected to be relocated to the former Wells Fargo building at the end of this year.

Brunton Architects’ plans offer a secure area for city staff which will be separate from the public area of the building. The plans also allow for more spacious council chambers to seat more members of the public during meetings.

• Learned that the Housing and Redevelopment Authority has voted to transition the HRA-owned four-plex on Rice Street into rental properties.

The units’ current listing agreement will remain in place through June 8.

• Approved an ordinance to amend the city’s licensing procedure for solicitors, peddlers and transient merchants.

“We’re doing this because of the way the county operates on their licensures,” Frundt explained.

• Scheduled a second reading and public hearing on April 1 for an ordinance to amend the City Charter.

The ordinance follows the Charter Commission’s recommendation to amend a portion of City Code concerning the tariff mill rate revenue from the city’s large power customers.

“This is for the purposes of establishing a second mill rate for the franchise with Blue Earth Light & Water, due to the possibility or actuality of a new class of customer,” Frundt said.

• Scheduled a second reading and public hearing on April 1 for an ordinance to amend the City Charter’s procedures for the conveyance of city-owned property.

“We (currently) need to have ordinances passed for those sales,” Frundt said. “Our Charter requires that, but it is not a requirement in State Statue. It delays moving forward with the sale because we have to have two hearings of the ordinance.”

With the proposed change to the City Charter, the sale of city-owned property could be approved by a single resolution.

• Scheduled a second reading and public hearing on April 1 for an ordinance to amend the City Charter’s language concerning the procedure for recalling an elected official.

• Approved a resolution to convey two city-owned lots in the Fairview Heights Addition to Jared Bruellman for $5,000.

The sale is contingent on conditions in the development agreement which must be met 18 months from now.

• Approved More Than Mowing’s bid for the city’s 2024 mowing contract. More Than Mowing quoted $56,316 for mowing and trimming services in listed areas, plus $6,505 for spraying services.

• Approved a $5,780 assessment deferral application from Bevcomm, as the assessment was being levied against an undeveloped parcel.

• Approved the hire of Kathy Johnson as a part-time liquor store clerk.

• Voted not to waive the statutory tort limits on the city’s liability coverage through the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust.

• Declared various city-owned property as excess. The excess items will be put up for sale during the city-wide garage sales.