A local Head Start center is interested in relocating to the former Little Luke’s space at St. Luke’s Lutheran Care Center in Blue Earth, above. The feasibility of the project will be determined by grant funding.

At a meeting held on Thursday morning, May 9, the Blue Earth Economic Development Authority (EDA) bid farewell to long-time board member Peggy Olson.

“Peggy has other commitments that need her attention, so she is going to step away from the EDA,” EDA specialist Amy Schaefer explained.

Jarod Mathiason, who recently opened Supreme Lending on Blue Earth’s Main Street, will be filling Olson’s vacant seat.

“He’s very excited and anxious to get started,” Schaefer said, adding that Mathiason was unable to attend that morning’s meeting as he was away at a training session in Ohio.

Schaefer and the board thanked Olson for her time as an EDA board member.

“You’ve been on the EDA since longer than I’ve been here,” Schaefer observed. “We appreciate your time, and wish you the best.”

Olson replied, “It’s been fun – I’ve learned so much. I can’t believe how much I’ve learned.”

The board also received an update about a potential new daycare center in the Blue Earth community.

Schaefer informed the board that the Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, which currently operates a Head Start daycare program for seasonal migrant workers at a church in Winnebago, has been informed they need to find a new space because the church is being sold.

“They want to move to St. Luke’s (Lutheran Care Center),” Schaefer explained.

The group is interested in the space which housed the Little Luke’s daycare facility before it relocated to the Ag Center and became the present-day Little Giants Early Learning Center.

According to Schaefer, the Tri-Valley Opportunity Council has applied for a Thirteen-Thirty grant to fund the relocation, which is likely to be expensive. The group has been successful in receiving the grant money for previous projects.

“It is a substantial grant -close to $1 million,” Schaefer said. “But, if they don’t get the grant, the project doesn’t happen. Even if they do, there are still some expenses they will have. Everything is in limbo until the grant is awarded or not awarded.”

Schaefer estimates the Tri-Valley Opportunity Council will be informed whether they have been awarded the funds in November.

She clarified that so far, the group has not requested any funds from the EDA for the project. However, they have met with Schaefer to learn about other potential funding sources. Schaefer suggested grant programs through Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF), the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), and the Blue Earth Community Foundation.

“I just wanted to put that on your radar in case it comes to them needing more financial help,” Schaefer explained. “(The EDA) might want to discuss possibly helping them, or we might not.”

She said the new daycare program would no longer be income-based. Instead, it would be open to families with at least one parent working in agriculture.

“As long as one parent works some time in ag, they are eligible. It doesn’t have to be year-round,” Schaefer commented. “That opens it up to a lot of people.”

In other business, the Blue Earth EDA:

• Discussed the upcoming University of Minnesota Vetcamp, which will be held at the Law Enforcement Center on June 26.

The camp is free of cost to the EDA, although campers will be charged a $15 sign up fee. The EDA has also received a $2,000 grant from Compeer to fund field trips to Goette Farms and the Blue Earth Locker for campers, plus complimentary lunches and t-shirts.

“I’m a little concerned that we’re going to be over $2,000,” Schaefer noted. “Would the EDA be willing to cover any overages?”

The EDA agreed to Schaefer’s request, and voted to cover additional costs should the camp’s budget exceed $2,000.

• Received an update from city administrator Mary Kennedy about the status of the Three Sisters buildings on Main Street.

Kennedy said she had recently toured the buildings, and found them to be in significant disrepair.

“I want to prepare you if you have any emotional attachment to those buildings,” she said. “They are devastating. They are devastated. They are ruined, and they will need to come down.”

She explained the Blue Earth City Council has started the process of getting the buildings back, and is negotiating with their owner, Project 3 Sisters, regarding roughly $4,000 in unpaid back taxes and fees.

Kennedy said the council may explore grant funding for the buildings’ demolition, and warned the board that the funding may only be eligible through the EDA.

“If there is grant money for the demolition, I don’t know what the EDA’s role will be,” she concluded.

• Approved a Commercial Improvement Forgivable Loan Application from Average Jo’s. The $3,554.23 loan will partially fund a project to replace the restaurant’s water heater and install water lines, and complete dryer vent and duct work to install a washer and a dryer.

• Approved a Commercial Improvement Forgivable Loan Application from Blue Earth Chiropractic to fund the construction of a concrete threshold and entry to the business, as the front area is currently gravel. The EDA will cover half of the project’s cost, or $4,015.

• Approved a Commercial Improvement Forgivable Loan Application from TJD Repair & Service in the amount of $5,000. The funds will offset the cost of a project to replace the roof on the business’s secondary building.

• Entered into closed session to discuss a property transaction concerning parcel number 211120010.

After re-opening the meeting to the public, the board scheduled a public hearing for the sale of the property on Thursday, June 13, at 8:05 a.m.

• Learned that Schaefer has received her Rural Grocery Transition Specialist certification.