BLUE EARTH — Looming maintenance costs may put the kibosh on a city-owned campground in Blue Earth.
The site on the Faribault County Fairgrounds has been used for years as a city amenity for travelers, but the estimated $25,000 it would cost to bring it up to various codes is viewed as prohibitive.
“It no longer meets the licensed campground requirements,” City Administrator Kathy Bailey said. “We’re going to have to spend a sizable amount of money to maintain it, but it really doesn’t have a whole lot of benefit to residents of Blue Earth.”
The campground offers users one night of free camping, with a $20 charge for each subsequent night of use.
City officials said in addition to the improvements that need to be made, the campground has repeatedly been the site of various police-call misbehaviors involving vagrants and others.
The campground has four camping sites with full utilities hookups and six other camping sites without the hookups.
A Minnesota Department of Health inspection found problems with the water and sewer systems and with the close proximities of the four full-utility sites. The city has been given one year to remedy the issues.
Council members are skeptical about getting a return on money that would have to be put into campground improvements.
The city will decide what to do about the facility in the next 4-6 weeks as it finalizes its budget for the coming year.
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