BLUE EARTH– The Three Sisters Saga continued at a Blue Earth City Council meeting on Monday.

The vacant Main Street buildings, currently owned by Project 3 Sisters, LLC, have been largely neglected for the past few years and are showing signs of deterioration.

The council voted to sever its ties with Project 3 Sisters in October of 2021 after terms in the city’s development agreement with the LLC were not met. The city granted the LLC full ownership of the buildings.

When the project’s progress halted soon after, the council expressed interest in renewing ownership of the buildings so measures could be taken to prevent further deterioration.

“(Project 3 Sisters) is willing to go forward with turning over the property to the city,” city attorney David Frundt told the council on Monday. “I indicated that were that to happen, they would need to bring their taxes current. It’s around $4,000.”

The council granted Frundt the authority to negotiate Project 3 Sisters’s payment of the delinquent taxes.

City administrator Mary Kennedy also informed the council that most likely, the buildings will have to be demolished once they return to the city’s ownership.

“The judge did sign a warrant for us to go through the property, and it is significantly deteriorated,” she said.

The council also discussed ongoing annexation proceedings with the Township of Blue Earth City.

Frundt informed the council that an amended three-year agreement for the annexation proceedings was recently rejected by the Township Board, who instead requested to return to the original five-year annexation agreement which was presented to the board on March 21.

The council voted to set a public hearing for the five-year agreement on that date.

Scholtes attributed the delay in annexation proceedings to the actions of the Township Board, suggesting that a series of contentious discussions about the terms of the agreement, and the board’s lack of response to updated offers, has caused the proceedings to stall.

In other business, the Blue Earth City Council:

— Directed Bolton & Menk to extend a new sanitary sewer service to the Riverside Heights community and re-route the waste as part of the annexation project.

— Directed Bolton & Menk to adjust the height of the fencing for the new Putnam Park Tennis Courts to allow spectators unobstructed viewing of matches, and install posts for a backboard at the northeast corner of the courts.

— Held a public hearing and passed a resolution for the preliminary approval of $1 million in general obligation capital improvement bonds.

— Adjourned the Board of Equalization and Appeals meeting after approving the reduction of a property’s tax value from $147,800 to $114,500, per the county assessor’s recommendation.

— Agreed to cover 50 percent of a $21,500 estimate to repair and re-paint the Giant statue.

–Directed Kennedy to purchase a new, crescent-shaped dais for the council’s chambers at the future City Hall.

— Took no action on Paul More’s request for the city’s financial assistance with a $11,516 project to route infrastructure to the curb of a property he recently purchased.

— Received the 2023 audit report for Blue Earth Light & Water, which was completed by Oberloh & Oberloh, Ltd.

— Accepted Ken Skaare’s notice of retirement from the Public Works Department.

— Approved New Chances Humane Society’s application for a kennel license, and was informed of its grand opening to be held on Sunday, May 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.