The Becker Township Board met Monday evening with what appeared to be a light agenda and a very small crowd on hand with just two people in the gallery.  Just one person, Roy Plohocky, addressed the board but as it turned out his issue dominated the discussion for the evening. 

Plohocky’s company, Skynet, is in the process of installing fiber optic cable in and around the Enchanted Thicket development in order to service homeowners with high speed internet.  He reported his installation started last Wednesday, and by Friday, a competitor, Midco, was also in the area installing their own cable lines.

According to Plohocky, because his fiber was yet to be “hooked up” and live, the usual utility locating services were not able to find and mark his freshly installed cables resulting in several cuts by the competitor.

Plohocky was seeking recourse from the board to issue a cease and desist order to the other company until such a time as his installation was live and able to be marked by the locating services.

“Every time they cut my line it reduces signal strength and takes about a half mile off my end destination,” he claimed.

The board seemed surprised by the situation, stating nothing like this had ever happened in the past.

Township Engineer Wes Davis agreed, saying he had never encountered a situation like this.

“We have two companies who are properly permitted to be working in the right of way and they are on top of each other,” stated Davis.  

He went on to explain that the township only issues the permits to allow work to be done in the right of way, but is not responsible for the coordination of the installation materials, etc.

Chairman Brian Kolbinger asked attorney Kelly Bourgeois to weigh in on the situation, as to him it appeared that the conflict was a civil one between the companies.

Bourgeois stated she, like the board, had just been made aware of the situation and hadn’t researched the issue.

“But I know of nothing that would allow the township to stop a contractor from doing their work once it is started and they are complying with the permitting process,” added Bourgeois.

Plohocky was encouraged to contact the other company directly to see what arrangements could be made and if a solution can be worked out between the two competitors.

Engineer’s Report

The board continued the right of way discussion during the engineer’s report, as Davis had already put the issue on the agenda before Plohocky appeared before the board.  

Because both companies have signaled their intent to expand their services next year within the township, the board directed Davis and Bourgeois to look at the permitting process and see if anything could be done to help diminish the risk of a similar incident in the future. However, Kolbinger voiced his concern in making sure the township could so something without putting the township in the position of interfering with open markets and competition between companies.

Davis stated that he and staff have already looked at grouping permits by development rather than by the street, therefore greatly reducing the paperwork and follow up required for the individual permits. 

“There are already plans for six or seven more developments for next year [for receiving fiber],” said Davis.  “That could be up to 30 individual street permits.”

With this much work being done in the right of way, the board thought it would be possible there could again be conflicts within the work areas.  Discussion was held regarding putting shorter expiration dates on the permits, changing the permitting process and also looking at the performance bond process to try and rectify the current situation as well as to streamline paperwork in the future.

On an unrelated note, Davis continued his report and informed the board about a right of way obstruction within the Boulder Crossing development and plans to try and have a contractor repair a culvert that was installed too high.  

Joint Planning 

Update

Planner Ben Wikstrom updated the board on a couple of issues the joint planning board reviewed this past month, including the recommendation of a denial of setback variance and the issue of lot sizes within the township.

In certain situations, lot divisions have enough land to meet the ordinance, but because of peculiar shapes they might not be able to meet the length and width requirements.  While no decision has been made on this issue, the planning board is going to be looking at the issue in the future to see what makes the most sense for everyone concerned.

In other business, the board:

•Heard from Chair Kolbinger regarding the joint powers agreement with the Central Mississippi River Regional Planning Partnership and approved Kolbinger to sign the appropriate forms on behalf of the township;

•Unanimously approved sending formal support for the City of Becker’s bonding request for the up coming legislative session;

•Discussed ongoing road maintenance issues on 77th and 112th street.  Because the frost may diminished enough, Tony Wruck will look at the possibility of grading the roads again before winter;

•Discussed upcoming snow plowing and made a few clarifications including the township taking over plowing in Boulder Crossing because the threshold for development is imminent;

•Decided to seek bids in January for the general maintenance contract;

•Scheduled a future discussion on their fee schedule, as Supervisor Brad Wilkening indicated there were some instances where CUP’s and plat reviews were requiring significant staff costs that are getting close to not being recouped by the township.