A comprehensive agenda for Monday’s Becker Twp. meeting kept the board busy tackling residential concerns, road issues and road signs, amongst others.

 

Zac Johnson appeared before the board and issued three photos and eight Beacon maps to coincide with his wish to split a portion of his property.

 

Johnson has a 20-acre lot he’d like to build a home on. The lot is land-locked with no driveway to a road and Johnson asked the board for some suggestions.

 

Johnson’s lot is to the south of an easement that he says would be ideal for a road that could be built to connect with 185th Ave. SE. Johnson had lots of questions on who would build the road and maintain it and the costs involved.

 

After extensive discussion, the board suggested Johnson attend the next planning board meeting (Oct. 9) and discuss the situation with them and consider their suggestions and options.

 

Another resident, Tom Scheiber of  in Oakwood Estates, said he’d like to build a 32x56 shed on his property, but was told the location he chose does not take into consideration setbacks, easements and wetlands on his property.

 

Scheiber’s property was inspected by City Planner Jacob Sanders and engineer Wes Davis of Bogart Pederson and they suggested an area to Scheiber’s north where some trees would need to be eliminated.

 

Scheiber argued that he was told that location would not work due to easements and setbacks and preferred to have the shed situated to the south and west of his home.

 

The board suggested he follow some steps to identify a good location so it would not obstruct the wetlands area. They suggested he pay for a wetland dilineation survey, then vacate the non-wetland area and easement and follow that up with a site survey. They told Scheiber it will take some time to get those things done and could end up being quite costly.

 

In the meantime, Sanders and Davis said they would check the north side of the property to see if there is another option to build.

 

Another resident asked the board to consider changing speed limit signs that read 35 MPH in his development of Hidden Haven to 25 MPH for the safety of children and families.

 

The board took the resident’s concerns and told him they are trying to keep developments consistent as far as speeds and promised the resident they will supply him with a list of speed limit postings in other developments by their Oct. 16 meeting.

 

Sanders gave an update on RFP bids in conjunction with the City of Becker for building inspection services.

 

Currently, the city and townships of Becker contract with Metro West for inspections. Metro West submitted a proposal that includes their permit and plan review fees at 37% to the contractor and 63% retained by Becker. Miscellaneous or special services are charged at $95 an hour. They provided a list of current contracts that include 38 communities.

 

Rum River Construction submitted a bid showing their permit and plan review fees at 70% to contractor and 30% retained to becker. Miscellaneous or special services are charged at $65 and hour and they provided a list of current contracts identifying St. Francis and Nowthen as two communities they serve.

 

Sanders gave an update on a retaining wall for the Chris Monroe residence.

 

A few months ago, Monroe applied for a permit to build a retaining wall on his property. His property has a basement with a walkout that was excavated without a building permit and would not have been approved if a building permit had been submitted, due to topography.

 

Monroe was given permission by the board to work in the easement on the condition he obtain a waiver of liability indemnifying the township of all future responsibilities of costs that me be incurred as a result of any work required in the easement.

 

The submitted permit and site plan were not sufficient for reviewal and/or approval, so Monroe submitted a secondary drawing that showed a tiered retaining wall system in which the bottom wall would have a surcharge of soil from the upper wall. 

 

Monroe was notified the wall needed to be engineered with a certificate of survey issued as well as the waiver of liability. Sanders said staff received the engineered drawings but no certificate of survey. All that was submitted was a written letter certifying staking of property lines.

 

Monroe was told he needed to submit the certificate of survey in which he resubmitted a survey with no site information with the exception of property lines.

 

He was told again the survey was not sufficient and asked to re-submit.

 

Davis said construction on 185th Avenue was going good although there seems to be a traffic control issue just outside the Carefree Country Club location. It was also noted someone has been removing barricades along the construction route which are put in for safety reasons.

 

Clerk Lucinda Messman said the moving or removing of the barricades is an illegal act and is a dangerous deed that could cause somebody to get hurt.

 

M.L. Schendzielos & Sons was issued a partial payment in the amount of $52,883.31. Hardrives, Inc.was also issued a partial payment of $10,295.56.

 

A driveway approval for Holtz for a secondary access was approved by the board. Davis suggested the board purchase some stickers to be applied to the back of township signs identifying the dates they were installed or updated.

 

The township board:

• Discussed the filling of a vacancy on the board and what the next steps are in relation to the submitted applications;

 

• Approved and issued no comments to the county for the re-issuance of a liquor license for the new owner of the Hideout Bar & Grill;

 

• Approved a new snowplow contract to Wruck Excavating;

 

• Tabled the general maintenance contract for bids/length of terms;

 

• Identified Oct. 21 as the date for the next road tour;

 

• A resolution was accepted for the valuation of the township building a nd gazebo for insurance purposes.

 

The next Becker Twp. Board meeting is Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.