BLUE EARTH– At its regular meeting on Tuesday, the Blue Earth City Council briefly went over some items dealing with the recent resignation of city administrator Mary Athey.

Athey had submitted her resignation at a special council meeting held the previous Thursday afternoon, Feb. 13.

At that Feb. 13 meeting the council had voted to hire South Central Service Cooperative (SCSC) of North Mankato to lead the search for a new city administrator.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Blue Earth mayor Rick Scholtes announced that the work session before the next council meeting, on March 3, would include a visit from Mike Humpal of SCSC, who is the former city administrator of Fairmont.

At that work session Humpal will work with the council to learn their expectations and explain the search procedure.

The tentative draft of a timeline has the development of information during March, the position advertised during April, review of candidates in May and interviews of the top four candidates in June. A decision would be made and a new administrator would start their position in late July or early August.

Also at the meeting the City Council heard an update from city engineer Ben Rosol concerning the next street/utility projects in the city.

Rosol explained three options that included waiting on the start of this coming summer’s Linton Street project until the city can learn if they will get a grant from the state to help pay for the project.

Rosol said the city has the necessary conditions to qualify for the grant, but receiving the funds depends on the state passing a bonding bill this legislative session.

If the bonding bill does pass it would still mean a delay in the start of construction this summer. If the bill does not pass this session it could mean a delay of a year before the start of the construction.

The council voted to wait until the funds are available as it could mean $2.2 million in grant monies.

In other business at the meeting, the City Council:

— Voted to approve the Blue Earth Light and Water request to allow them to proceed with a $7.6 million bond to help pay for the new water treatment plant and upgrade.

— Authorized the EDA to allow the Blue Earth Police Department to use an empty portion of the Ag Center for storage of items, which were previously stored in a garage behind the former City Hall.

— Approved the sale of a lot on Third Street owned by the city to Sarah Smith for $250.

— Heard annual reports from the Blue Earth Fire Department, Blue Earth Community Library and the Blue Earth Economic Development Authority, during a work session before the regular meeting.