BLUE EARTH– A discussion on whether or not to continue offering free pool passes for Blue Earth residents in 2026 was at the top of the agenda at the Blue Earth City Council meeting on Tuesday.

City Administrator Dawn Collins presented the council with a copy of the 2025 pool figures, as well as some recommendations for how to proceed with issuing pool passes in 2026.

“Looking at the figures from last year, 276 passes were offered at no cost, which was 178 more than the prior year sold for pre-season,” Collins reported. “However, the result of these free passes was a nearly $14,500 loss of revenue in the pre-season sales. Although some revenue was recovered over the season, there was an overall loss of $10,400 to the fund compared to 2024. Based on this data, I believe that it would not be appropriate to offer free passes again this year, and would like to request that we offer pre-season passes at a cost for 2026.”

Council Member Jacque Drew raised a question as to whether offering free pool passes in 2026 was budgeted for when determining the 2026 budget.

“Yes, we did budget for that,” mayor Rick Scholtes replied. “The pool is never going to break even, but I would rather see kids use the pool than not. I’m worried that if we charge for pool passes again, we’ll see the numbers go back down again.”

“I would prefer to have more data regarding pass utilization before making a decision on this issue,” Council Member Dan Ristau remarked. “I’m curious to know how many people with a free pass actually used it, and how frequently they did so.”

Following discussion, a motion was made and seconded to continue to offer free pre-season pool passes to Blue Earth residents for the 2026 season. The motion passed unanimously.

Other business discussed at the City Council meeting included:

— The council entered a closed session to conduct an evaluation for city administrator Dawn Collins. After the meeting was reopened to the public, Scholtes shared that Collins had been rated on her performance over the last six months across 11 different categories. On a scale from one to 10, Collins received a total score of 8.46, ranking her “above satisfactory.”

— A food truck permit for Norseman Lobster was unanimously approved.

— A series of new member appointments to boards and committees were unanimously approved. Bryce Werner was appointed to the Airport Advisory Commission for a four-year term, Blue Earth Fire Chief Corey Survis was appointed to the Fire Relief Board of Trustees, and Jacque Drew was appointed to REV.

— A motion to draft an ordinance to amend Section 250.11 of the municipal code regarding the membership structure of the Fitness Center Board was unanimously approved.

— Collins presented the council with a list of proposed revisions to the city personnel policy. After discussion, a motion was made to approve the proposed revision to Section 23, which would amend severance to include 50 percent unused accrued sick leave for employees in good standing with more than 20 years of service. The motion failed for lack of a second. As the motion did not pass, a decision was reached to come back with a clean copy of revisions for approval at a future meeting.