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BLUE EARTH-- A Blue Earth City Council meeting on Monday opened to a packed room. A crowd of citizens had assembled to protest a proposal to relocate the Blue Earth Senior Center from its downtown location to a space at St. Luke's Lutheran Care Center.
However, the public's concerns were soon put to rest-- before mayor Rick Scholtes opened the meeting for public comment, council member John Huisman cut in with a motion.
"I would like to make a motion that the city does not consider St. Luke's campus as a location for the Senior Center," Huisman said. "We will evaluate the building maintenance and the ADA renovation costs for the existing Senior Center location. "
The council passed Huisman's motion.
The Blue Earth City Council also:
-- Approved a resolution to amend the courthouse's zoning district which had been tabled at a previous City Council meeting.
The county wants to construct a parking lot near the courthouse. Currently, the proposed area for the parking lot is zoned incorrectly for the project.
The resolution had been tabled due to concerns about spot-zoning. However, the council approved the resolution after Bolton & Menk planners advised that the resolution does not meet the criteria for spot-zoning.
-- Set the city's major industrial sewer and stormwater service rates, which will increase by five percent.
-- Set the city's sewer service rates for 2024-2026. The rates will increase by four percent.
-- Discussed the city's snow plowing policy at a 4:30 p.m. work session, and, among other things, suggested amending penalties issued for snow emergency protocol violations. Violators would receive a fine of $50, plus towing expenses, after their second offense.
-- Reviewed a draft of the city's Sewer Forgiveness Policy. Under the new policy, credit requests would be reviewed by the city administrator, and no sewer credits under $20, or over $500, would be granted.
Residents would have three months to submit a sewer forgiveness request following a month of high usage rates.
-- Approved a $14,983 bill from G&S Drainage Excavation for the installation of a drainage system at the Blue Earth Municipal Airport.
-- Approved Chet Malwitz's sealed $10,550 bid for a city-owned property across from Cedar Inn Drive-In.
-- Approved updates to the fire department's by-laws which were discussed at the Oct. 2 council meeting.
-- Approved changes to the preliminary assessment roll for the 2024 Street and Utility Improvement Project. A total of $39,000 will be credited to residents in project areas where assessment fees were recently paid for a separate project.
-- Scheduled a public hearing at the council's Nov. 6 meeting for a property on South Moore Street which poses a safety hazard.
-- Discussed a real estate transaction in closed session. Following the closed session, the council scheduled a special meeting on Oct. 23, at 4 p.m., to resume the discussion in closed session.
-- Went into closed session to discuss certain security matters. The council then approved updated hours for City Hall.
Effective Oct. 23, City Hall will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 9 a.m. to noon on Fridays.