BLUE EARTH– A discussion on adjusting the lunch prices at the Blue Earth Community and Senior Center was held at the Blue Earth City Council meeting on Monday.

City Administrator Dawn Collins presented the council with a memo from the Senior Center board regarding the current prices of lunches, and some suggested changes to the program.

“The main discussion point is that regular lunch attendees who have a prepaid punch card must spend an additional $2.50 for takeout lunches when they aren’t able to attend in person,” Collins shared. “Currently, a lunch at the Senior Center costs $4, while takeout lunches cost $6.50 to reflect the extra cost of taking the meal to go.”

“To my understanding, what the Senior Center board wants is a way to streamline the process of getting lunch to go for people with a punch card,” Mayor Rick Scholtes commented. “If the lunch prices were kept the same for punch card users, regardless of whether you were eating at the Senior Center or taking it to go, that would save the hassle of having to get the card punched as well as paying the extra $2.50.”

Several council members mentioned that this topic had been discussed previously, leading to the current lunch prices and stipulations for takeout meals. It was also brought up that the extra charge for takeout had been implemented to help cover the cost of the boxes needed for takeout.

“I don’t think it would be a bad idea to set a flat price for all lunches at the Senior Center to $5, both for takeout and eat-in meals, regardless of whether you have a punch card or not,” Collins suggested. “That way we could hopefully break even financially if people want to continue getting takeout meals, while still providing an affordable lunch option for everyone.”

“I think that’s a very good idea,” council member Ann Hanna commented. “I remember back when we first set the prices for a Senior Center lunch, we did a study to figure out how much a typical lunch cost at our local restaurants, and the average cost was anywhere from $10-15. Even if we do raise the price to $5, that’s still much cheaper than any other option in town, and the meals at the Senior Center are very good quality.”

While no motions were made at this time, a decision was reached to present this idea at the Senior Center board’s next meeting for further discussion.

Other business discussed at the City Council meeting included:

— Blue Earth Area Schools superintendent Mandy Fletcher gave a presentation on the Comprehensive Facilities Assessment during the work session prior to the meeting.

— A public hearing was held for Ordinance 2026-02 amending Subsection 210.02 of the city code to comply with Section 210.02 of the Blue Earth City Charter. Hearing no discussion or public comment, the hearing was closed. A motion was then made and seconded to pass Ordinance 2026-02. The motion was passed unanimously.

— A Memorandum of Understanding for New Chances Humane Society allowing them to offer free licensing with the adoption of a cat or dog was unanimously approved.

— Resolution 26-05 memorializing the agreement between the EDA and the Chamber of Commerce regarding the lease agreement for the Giant Welcome Center was unanimously approved. Chamber director Sarah Ferguson, who was present at the meeting, also presented the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau 2026 budget to the council later in the meeting.