Blue Earth American Legion members Paul Kafka, far left, and Loren Eckhardt, presented flags to the city during the meeting on Monday. Interim city administrator Jamie Holland is holding some of the donated flags.

Property updates of all kinds were top of the agenda at the Blue Earth City Council meeting on April 7.

Interim city administrator and public works director Jamie Holland presented the council with an update on the demolition of the Three Sisters building.

“The building was removed in its entirety, and the hole left behind was filled with sand and then topped with 10-12 inches of black dirt, which will be graded, tilled, and seeded as the weather allows,” Holland explained. “The sidewalk on the south wall bordering West Seventh Street was damaged during the demolition, but we expected that to be the case, as it was attached to the building in several places. We already have plans to replace it.”

Holland also shared that he has been in contact with the owner of the adjoining property, and was looking into solutions for the now-exposed outer wall.

“The mortar joints on that side of the building were never ‘struck,’ which means they aren’t weather-resistant and may accumulate excess moisture over time,” Holland said. “The Blue Earth EDA offers matching grants for the type of work needed to fix that problem, so I’ve recommended that they look into getting one of those. Overall, though, the demolition of the building went about as well as it could have.”

City attorney David Frundt presented a series of documents relating to the sale of 125 West Sixth Street, the former location of Blue Earth’s city hall, for approval by the council. These documents included a limited warranty deed, a settlement statement, and Resolution 25-13, which would formalize the sale of the property to Faribault County for a price of $283,100.

“Provided we can get both the limited warranty deed and the settlement statement approved tonight, we will be able to proceed directly to Resolution 25-13 and get that approved tonight as well,” Frundt said. “The former special assessment amount for the property will be deducted from the total sale price.”

After the council took some time to look over the documents, a motion was made and seconded to approve both the limited warranty deed and the settlement statement. The motion was passed unanimously. A second motion was then made and seconded to approve Resolution 25-13. This motion was also passed unanimously.

Frundt then brought forward Resolution 25-11, approving a property tax abatement for lot three, block three of Prairie View Addition (110 Bluestem Drive). This property is owned by council member John Huisman, who applied for the tax abatement.

A motion was made and seconded to approve Resolution 25-11. The motion was passed unanimously, with Huisman abstaining from the vote.

Holland brought forward Resolution 25-12, declaring certain property excess property, for approval.

“If any of you noticed the motor grader sitting in the parking lot on your way in to tonight’s meeting, that’s the new one,” Holland explained. “Our old 1997 motor grader is going to be put up for auction on MNBid, as it’s still in decent shape and we already have the new one to replace it.”

The two other items to be declared as surplus included a 2007 tack tar trailer, which has already received an offer on it, and a 2021 overhead projector formerly used in the Council chambers.

A motion was made and seconded to approve Resolution 25-12. The motion was passed unanimously.

Mayor Rick Scholtes presented the council with a contract from Mosquito Control of Iowa for the 2025 season for approval.

“We’ve been working with this group for several years, and they’ve done some really great work for us,” Scholtes said. “Everything should be set for approval.”

Council member Stephanie Walter raised a question about how the billing process would be impacted by a potential price raise.

“It says here that the full price for these services, which is priced at $17,535, will be billed at the end of the program season,” Walter commented. “Is that price a fixed value, or will it go up before we pay it at the end of the season?”

“That price is fixed – it won’t go up,” Scholtes replied. “We’re just going to pay it at the end of the season, rather than up front.”

Hearing no further discussion, a motion was made and seconded to accept the contract from Mosquito Control of Iowa. The motion was passed unanimously by the council.

A public hearing was opened for the considered tax abatement of parcel 21.530.0330. Hearing no discussion from those in attendance, the public hearing was closed.

While looking through the various staff member reports, council member Michael McNerney raised a question about some potential missing information on the liquor store report.

“I don’t see any credit card or cash handling fees reported on the liquor store report for February 2025,” McNerney commented. “Is that a mistake on their report, or has some information been left off of here?”

“I didn’t catch that – thank you for bringing that to my attention,” Scholtes responded. “I’ll make sure to look into that and get it corrected on our records if that omission is a mistake.”

Other items of discussion at the City Council meeting included:

• The City Council was presented with a gift of armed forces flags from Blue Earth American Legion Post vice commander Paul Kafka and Loren Eckhardt.

• Permits for BJ’s Sweet Treats and More, Chick-Fil-A, and an event to be hosted by Trinity Lutheran Church were all unanimously approved.

• City engineer Ben Rosol presented the council with some amended language for the Street Project Tree Replacement Reimbursement Program. After some discussion, a motion was made and seconded to approve the updated language. The motion was passed unanimously.

• A bill of sale for the pteranodon fossil currently displayed in the library to the Blue Earth Children’s Museum Foundation, Inc. was approved unanimously. Board of Directors president Chuck Hunt, who was present at the meeting, shared with the council that the pteranodon fossil is being swapped for a complete mosasaurus skeleton, which will be brought up from Colorado later in April.

• A letter of resignation from Blue Earth Community Library staff member Alyssa Sloneker was approved unanimously. Her final day will be April 30, 2025.

• Mayor Scholtes provided an update from Mike Humpal of South Central Service Cooperative regarding the search for a new city administrator. The application is live and will be open through the end of the month, and while there have already been a few responses, the job market is tight, with five other cities also searching for a city administrator at this time.