Utilities

Blue Earth Light and Water, a division of the City of Blue Earth, has provided residents of the City affordable and quality electricity and water service for over one hundred years.

The City’s natural gas provider is CenterPoint Energy.

The licensed cable television provider and telephone provide for the City of Blue Earth BEVCOMM, a locally owned and operated full-service telecommunications provider.

The Public Works Department of the City of Blue Earth maintains the City’s streets. The Department oversees construction and reconstruction of streets, patching and seal-coating, sweeping and snowplowing.

Snow Removal Policy

Windrowed Streets Map

There are three licensed waste haulers that provide a weekly garbage pick up service for the City of Blue Earth. Each has different methods for billing and collecting waste. These licensed providers are B & B Sanitation, Hometown Sanitation Services LLC and Waste Management.

For disposal of household and construction debris the following companies are licensed in the City of Blue Earth to provide a dumpster to pick up refuse. Please review the permitting process below.

B & B Sanitation & Recycling
(contracted and bag tie residential garbage pick up is every Tuesday)
Winnebago, MN
507.893.3873

Hansen Sanitation, Inc.
Kasota, MN
507.625.8891

Hometown Sanitation Services LLC
(contracted residential garbage pick up is every Thursday)
Windom, MN
877.545.4877

Peterson Refuse and Demo
Wells, MN
507.553.3096

Thompson Sanitation Inc.
Clarks Grove, MN
507.256.4370

Waste Management
(contracted and yellow bag residential garbage pick up is every Monday)
1.888.490.2304

City Ordinance requires that an owner and/or occupant of any premises, dwelling, business establishment or industry located in the City of Blue Earth obtain a permit to place a dumpster, refuse or garbage container upon their property. Download the Dumpster Permit Application and submit your completed application to City Hall at 125 West 6th Street, PO Box 38, Blue Earth MN 56013 for approval. Additional information on the ordinance can be found in the City Code, Chapter 5, Subsection 520.07 – Storage of Refuse and/or Garbage within the City Limits.

Ordinance 15-9 establishing a municipal dumpster utility for the City of Blue Earth was passed and adopted on September 21, 2015. The City has leased eight 3-yard dumpsters and will make them available for residents use.  Blue Earth residents may contact City Hall by telephone or in person to reserve a dumpster. Dumpsters will be made available for one week (Thursday through Thursday). Each residence with a unique City utility billing account may receive one dump of the dumpster free of charge each calendar year. This one time per year service will be funded by a franchise fee of $2.00 per month added to the utility bill issued by the City’s Light & Water Department. Read additional details of the Dumpster Policy. Download a List of Unacceptable Wastes.

The City has contracted with B & B Sanitation & Recycling LLC for the collection and disposal of residential recycling in the City of Blue Earth.  Collection is done on Thursday and Friday every 1st and 3rd week of each month.

Pickup Schedule

• Thursday pickup will be on the south side of 7th Street to the south, east and west perimeters of the city limits.
• Friday pickup will be on the north side of 7th Street to the north, east and west perimeters of the city limits.

The City of Blue Earth is recommending that residents place their recycling cart by the curb edge on the street to prevent damage by the collection truck to City streets. Please have your cart out by 6:00 a.m. on your collection day with the wheels to the curb.

Notice to City Residents

Recycling roll carts are the property of B & B Sanitation, LLC. Removal of the cart is not permitted. Each cart is serial numbered accordingly to the property address. Any missing cart or additional carts needed will have an additional fee. When moving please leave the roll cart at the address and do not remove it.

Resources

• 2023 Recycling Calendar
•  Recycling Acceptable Items
• 2022 Faribault and Martin County Solid Waste Collection Events (to be determined)
• Faribault County permanent appliance and electronics collection sites
• Faribault County recycling information

The City of Blue Earth Department of Public Works oversees the management of stormwater in the City. Stormwater is collected through receptacles throughout the City in streets and ditches and routed to outlets on the Blue Earth River.

The City is aggressively seeking to eliminate inflow and infiltration of stormwater into the sanitary sewer (wastewater) system. Infiltration and inflow is responsible for sewage backup in basements due to overloading the sanitary system during rains by way of directly connecting sump pumps, foundation drains, roof drains and leaky service lines.

The City requires inspections for any of the following work related to the sanitary and storm sewer system:

• Installation, termination, connection, replacement or repair of sanitary service line.
• Installation, termination, connection, replacement or repair of foundation drains.
• Installation, replacement or repair of roof drain connections.
• Installation, replacement or repair of sump pumps.

You can make a difference in reducing inflow and infiltration. Disconnect your sump pump and rain gutters from the sanitary sewer system. Instead, divert water to your yard. Read a handy brochure on inflow and infiltration prepared by the City: Page 1, Page 2

How can you help keep the Blue Earth River clean?

• Minimize hard surfaces on your property to reduce runoff.
• Divert roof drains and other runoff to vegetated areas on your property.
• Keep your vehicles tuned up and repair leaks quickly.
• Wash your car on the lawn, not the driveway.
• Stop soil erosion- plant vegetation on bare areas.
• Never pour used oil, paint thinners, etc. into storm drains.
• Clean litter from the street and storm drains to keep it from flowing to the river.
• Minimize the use of fertilizers and pesticides on your lawn.
• Consider planting a rain garden.

The City of Blue Earth operates an activated sludge wastewater treatment facility. The Wastewater Treatment Plant staff can be contacted at 507.526.2402. Below are some design criteria on the plant and wastewater usage charges.

Design Criteria

• Average wet weather design is 980,000 gallons/day
• Average dry weather design is 488,000 gallons/day
• CBOD maximum –  2000 lbs./day
• TSS maximum – 2000 lbs./day

Current Average Loadings

• Average CBOD – 1326 lbs./day
• Average TSS – 1402 lbs./day
• Average Flow – 507,300 gallons/day

2021 User Charge (per thousand gallons of water used)

• Residential monthly flat rate  $26.97
• Residential usage rate  $8.07
• Commercial monthly flat rate  $34.08
• Commercial usage rate  $9.95

The City operates the brush site, a brush and leaf collection site just outside of the City Limits. Please note that the brush site only accepts leaves and brush. Compostable materials like kitchen and garden food scraps are not accepted. Tree trunks and branches larger than 12 inches in diameter and longer than 2 feet in length will not be accepted at the brush site. Leaves, woodchips, and grass clippings are to be dumped in a separate designated area within the brush site.

Directions

The brush site is in the southwest corner of 21st and Ramsey Streets (one block south of the 4-way stop on Ramsey Street/385th Avenue).

The Brush site is open to the residents of Blue Earth to dispose of yard waste and brush. Please separate your grass, leaves, and garden waste from your branches, sticks, and trees.

The regular hours for the site are as follows:
Tuesdays 12:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Thursdays  12:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Saturdays  8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m..

Topdressing/composted soil is available for pick up at the brush site at no charge to City residents.

Keys

Keys are NO longer available for checkout at City Hall.
$100.00 contractor annual key rental fee.

Leaf Burning

The City does allow leaf burning, but with these restrictions:

• Review the Leaf Burning Restrictions.
• Fires must be at least 25 feet from structures, wood fences, hedges, brush, etc.
• Fires must be at least 5 feet from a property line
• Fires are prohibited on streets, boulevards, or on public property
• To protect the health of patients in the United Hospital District facility within the City of Blue Earth the burning of leaves by anyone shall be prohibited in this area.
• Leaf burning is allowed September 15 – December 1:
  • Monday – Friday, 3 p.m. – dusk
  • Saturday – Sunday, Noon – dusk

During the rest of the year, burning is allowed by permit only. Permits can be obtained by calling City Hall at 526-7336.

The City of Blue Earth takes measures to control mosquitoes in the City when such control is warranted. Control methods include placing larvicide pellets in places likely to hold standing water and spraying an insecticide from a truck-mounted unit. The City of Blue Earth contracted the services to spray for mosquitos on May 24th, 2018 for the summer season, weather permitting.

MSDS for chemicals used: AllPro Evoluer 4-4 ULV and AllPro Evoluer 30-30 ULV

What You Can Do to Control Mosquitos

• Use mosquito repellent.
• Ensure that standing water is eliminated in your yard (in tires, rain gutters, birdbaths, puddles, pools, etc.).
• Seek the advice of a garden or hardware professional on the use of commercially-available repellent products.

Visit the American Mosquito Control Association website.