BP administrator accepts job in St. Charles

Blooming Prairie City Administrator Andrew Langholz is expected to submit his resignation letter this week, pending action by the St. Charles City Council.

“I’ve been offered – and intend to accept – the city administrator position in St. Charles,” Langholz said in a memo to the BP Council. That city council met Tuesday evening; Langholz’s hiring was on the agenda.

“Once that has been done, I will submit my letter of resignation, which includes a 30-day notice,” he said.

Langholz been with the city since February 2019.

“It shocked a lot of people,” he said.

Though the general public just learned of his pending resignation on Monday, Langholz had already told the mayor, council members and city staff – and explained how he’d like the replacement process to go “so we can keep moving quickly.”

In his nearly four years in the role, Langholz has streamlined many processes, as well as guided members of the city council in how best to handle COVID funds.

He facilitated grants – worth between $5,000 and $15,000 – for eight local businesses and recommended using Blooming Prairie’s share of the federal American Rescue Plan Act to shore up vital city funds, sewer and storm sewer, specifically.

“I was able to address a lot of issues that may have been on the back burner in the past,” Langholz said, including employee personnel policies, vacation time and other HR issues that were present when he was hired.

In 2019, the city was up against its debt limit, prompting Langholz to implement the city’s assessment policy, “otherwise we couldn’t do any projects.”

Over the years, he’s hired several full-time employees “that have turned out to be just excellent people – and excellent workers, but just excellent people in general,” he said.

The new job is “definitely career advancement – St. Charles is twice the size,” Langholz said. “But entering Blooming Prairie, I was single, and now leaving – I’m married and looking to start a family.”

His wife works in Rochester, making the new job a better fit geographically.

“If it was just me …” Langholz said. “I’ve done a lot of things here in Blooming Prairie that I’m proud of, and I wouldn’t go if it were just my own interest.”

The changes that have been made in his tenure have not only been beneficial for the city, but for the staff – which makes leaving even more difficult.

“We’ve changed so many things, and we’re finally able to reap the rewards and work on different areas,” he said.

Langholz’s departure means Blooming Prairie must begin the search for its next administrator, a process that will be facilitated by South Central Service Cooperative. SCSC, based in North Mankato, provides programs and services for local governments and school districts across south-central Minnesota.

The quoted price for their work is $10,645, which includes a two-year guarantee; if another search is needed within that time frame, it would be done at no additional cost.

The city used a different firm to conduct the search which eventually landed Langholz in the position; the cost then was $17,000.

The most recent quote doesn’t include expenses for hiring an interim city administrator, a route the city may take.