BLUE EARTH — The city of Blue Earth has hired a new city administrator.

On Monday, the Blue Earth City Council went into closed session at the end of its regular meeting to discuss a contract with Kim Moore. When they came out, the council voted unanimously to accept the deal.

Moore’s contract calls for her to start April 1, but Mayor Rick Scholtes announced that Moore will actually begin Monday.

Moore is currently living in Amery, Wisconsin, and is the former city administrator in Amery.

On Feb. 25, the council interviewed three candidates for the position; Moore, Mary Kennedy and Devin Swanberg. Kennedy is the economic development specialist in Blue Earth while Swanberg is the economic development director in Pine Island.

The council met after the interviews and voted to offer a contract to Moore. She accepted it Friday.

In other business, the council:

o Heard from Blue Earth Area Schools Superintendent Mandy Fletcher about a program coming to the school on March 24. It features motivational speaker Joe Boeckman, will be held at 6 p.m. and will be open to the public. There will be a free-will donation supper served before the presentation.

o Heard from Blue Earth Chamber of Commerce director Emily Lange about a Chamber event called “State of the City” report. It will be held March 25. The event will feature a report from Scholtes, as well as various city department heads, plus a report from Fletcher on the state of the school district.

o Heard an update from Public Works Department supervisor Jamie Holland. The council discussed whether there is a need to increase the number of employees because of the amount of work, and whether employees should be full time, part time or seasonal. The matter was sent to the Personnel Committee for further review.

o Voted to offer discounted memberships to the Faribault County Fitness Center, which is owned by the city, to all city employees. The city’s health insurance company quit offering reimbursements for fitness center memberships.

o Voted to spend $300 with KBEW radio for a “Shop Local” ad campaign.