Trending
BLUE EARTH-- The Blue Earth City Council reviewed a memo discussing the possible courses of action for subsurface drainage issues on Nicollet Street during its meeting on Monday.
City engineer Ben Rosol presented the council with the memo, detailing the history of drainage issues along Nicollet Street south of 10th Street and explaining the steps taken to address those issues over the years.
"There was some exploratory work done in 2024; at that time, the best guess was that the excessive groundwater in the area was due to either a sand vein or an artesian well," Rosol reported. "We discovered that there were leaks in a few of the lead service lines during the water service project that took place last fall, which have since been repaired. Then, this August, we had two major rainfall events within a week, which caused flooding in that area due to a widespread surcharge of the sanitary sewer system."
Rosol went on to explain that city staff did not feel that it was necessary to move forward with tile installation for that area. However, plans for tile installation were already factored in as part of the South Linton Street project, though there would be some difficulties getting permission from a couple of the properties located along that stretch.
"The Linton Street project is going on for another year; what happens if another problem develops in that time?" council member John Huisman asked. "We already approved this; that approval won't go away until the project is complete, correct?"
"Yes, but if we decide that we don't want to put the tile lines in, we have to let the construction crews know far enough in advance so that they don't order all of the supplies," mayor Rick Scholtes replied.
Several council members noted that they would prefer to keep the tile lines as part of the street project, and wait to see if the spring melt caused more flooding in that area, or if the problems had been resolved.
While no formal action was taken at this time, the council decided to keep the plans to have tile lines installed along that stretch of Nicollet Street as part of the South Linton Street Project.
Other business discussed at the city council meeting included:
-- During the work session prior to the meeting, the council continued their ongoing discussion about the 2027 budget. During the meeting itself, when the discussion from the work session was reviewed, a motion was made and seconded to stop having a police officer present at city council meetings, effective starting on Nov. 1, 2026. This motion passed unanimously. No other action on the budget was taken at this time.
-- Mayor Scholtes made an official proclamation declaring Oct. 18-24, 2026 as National Friends of Libraries Week in Blue Earth.
-- A public hearing was held for Ordinance 26-09 to amend the city code to allow the city council to approve simple lot combinations. Following the public hearing, a motion was made and seconded to pass the ordinance. The motion passed unanimously.
-- Resolution 26-46 authorizing the issuance and sale of a General Obligation Refunding Bond, Series 2026B in the amount of $1,870,000 was approved unanimously.
-- The first reading of an ordinance to amend the front yard setbacks in a General Industry zone was held. Following this, the public hearing for the ordinance was set for the next city council meeting at 5:05 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 9.