The Becker Township Board of Supervisors met Monday evening, with a proposed trail along CSAH 23 once again on the agenda.

Sherburne County has plans to build the approximately one mile long trail on the west side of CSAH 23 (Sherburne Avenue) from Edgewood Street north to 103rd St., as part of a project to re-do the roadway.  The county, along with the City of Becker, are planning to apply for a MNDOT Active Transportation Grant and was requesting a letter of support from the township.  The ten foot bituminous trail would link the Edgewood St. trail with Becker City Park.

Supervisor Luke Babler reported that he had talked with the all but one of the affected landowners, each of whom expressed dissatisfaction with the concept.  That remaining township resident happened to be at the meeting and voiced his opposition to the plan and cited concerns for his property as well as that of his neighbors. This prompted Babler to note that it was now “9-for-9” when it came to landowners opposed to the placement of the trail.

Babler based his opposition in part on the existence of two other connections from the city to the park, state grant funding still being taxpayer dollars, and the idea that the city owns much of the land on the east side of the road and could place the trail there.

City Administrator Greg Lerud was at the meeting and offered to answer questions about the project, noting that the trail is part of three different Sherburne County transportation planning documents and will be built entirely within county owned right-of-way.

Supervisor Robin Boros explained that since the request had been tabled last month, he had additional time to do some research and felt the trail would be built with or without the township’s support, but he would still be a “no” vote on the concept because of the landowners opposition.

After further discussion, a motion to approve a letter of support for the trail was voted down by the supervisors.

In other business, the board:

• Heard from SCSO Capt. Ryan Broich about last month’s 125 calls for service, a significant downward trend from last year’s 193 incidents;

• Approved the appropriate signatures for the new Becker Fire Department’s Joint Powers Agreement with the City of Becker;

• Approved the budgets for all five of the township’s expenditure funds;

• Heard updates on the shipping container ordinance, as well as the MN DOT road standards and CIP for road projects that are expected to be accomplished in 2024.