County Board nixes master plan and land purchase

By Robert Williams

Editor

The Becker County Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 to discontinue the county’s request for proposals (RFP) of a master plan and future purchase of two parcels of Toad Lake and Toad Mountain property on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at the Board of Commissioners meeting in Detroit Lakes.

Conversations between county representatives and Toad Lake Township members have been ongoing for the past two months on the controversial plan to turn the area into a regional park, much like what was done at Wannigan Regional Park in Frazee.

Commissioner Erica Jepson and County Administrator Carrie Smith both attended the most recent Toad Lake Township meeting on Monday, where the consensus was to protect Toad Mountain with a plan to return it to its natural state and not include any recreational aspects and also to not include the lakefront parcel that was in the original plan.

Earlier this summer, Environmental Services Administrator Steve Skoog introduced a plan whereby the Becker County Parks and Recreation Department was partnering with Trust for Public Lands (TPL) on the acquisition of 253 acres of land on the west shore of Big Toad Lake. This land was to be used as parkland in the future. The seller of the property had expressed an interest in seeing the property protected as publicly-owned land for public recreational uses.

As partners, the county would be seeking sources of funding to purchase the property and planned to apply for a grant through the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks & Trails Commission (GMRPTC). 

Wannigan Regional Park took a similar approach with its funding.

Submitting a Regional Designation Application to the GMRPTC and developing a Master Plan are prerequisites for applying for funding through the Commission.

For Toad Lake residents, they did not want the project to even get to the planning stage.

Multiple meetings were held to showcase the plan to area residents and to the county as a whole. Residents who live near Toad Lake and Toad Mountain were steadfast in their opposition to the project. Any hint of acceptance revolved around preservation of the area only, rather than turning it into an attraction. Funding and future maintenance costs were also a top priority.

“There was a lot of discussion at Monday’s meeting and there are concerns about the cost, and unknown dollar amounts,” said Jepson.

According to Jepson, the township board approved the idea of preserving the mountain with very minimal development and they would want to be heavily-involved in the process from RFPs to the completion of the project, ensuring there is no further development on the mountain.

“I would say it was approved with apprehension,” Jepson said. “There is still a lot of worry about the cost of it to the taxpayers and the county.”

Commissioner Richard Vareberg asked Skoog directly if there is money in the Parks and Recreation fund to complete a purchase.

Skoog presented the current Parks and Recreation fund balance as of Aug. 20 totaling $545,747. With the Dunton Locks Shelter Project cost of $315,339 subtracted, a Minnesota DNR grant for the shelter project of $186,209 added and the cost of the Toad Mountain Park Master Plan (SRF Proposal) of $54,935 also subtracted leaving a balance of $175,473.

For the county to proceed, a master plan must be completed first. The only way to get funding from the GMRPTC is to have a master plan.

“It’s a generic process,” said Skoog. “We’re not going into this saying this is what we’re going to do. It’s taking public input and developing a plan.”

According to Skoog, the issue is the process of the master plan, which involves public input to identify what the park should be, the development and ongoing maintenance costs and to show what needs are being met in the region. The more needs that are met by the park is conducive to receiving funding from GMRPTC.

Vareberg brought up the fact that the township does not support much more than minimal maintenance to return the mountain to its natural state and he is in support of those who would be most affected by the project. 

Commissioner Barry Nelson cited funding questions now and into the future at the county level and the one thing that stands out about Toad Mountain, compared to other places, is the elevation and the high point.

“I’d love to have that in a county park, but at this time financially I don’t think we’re capable of moving forward with this commitment,” said Nelson. “That’s my opinion and when you take that lakeshore away its attractiveness, to me, is much less.” 

Nelson brought up more affordable projects, like the county’s potential acquisition of Eagle Lake Park from the Eagle Lake Park Association, Inc., once the sale from the City of Frazee is completed at the end of the year.

Jepson, who has been on the frontline of meetings with area residents, believes the project could be an asset to the county but she wants to see the need established first.

“There are lots of things we can want, but I don’t know that we can show that we need to spend this much money to get it and I’m with Commissioner Nelson on where our budget is,” she said. 

Commissioner David Meyer expressed concerns about cost and the potential results of the study and future commitments. Meyer was the acting Chair in the absence of Chairman John Okeson.

All four commissioners thanked the Schlossman family for making the proposal and project available to the county.

David Schlossman, speaking on behalf of the seller, his mother Susan Kay Schlossman (Carr).

“We’d love to see this go into public domain or ownership,” he said.

Schlossman noted TPL presented a second opportunity for the sellers with the land potentially being sold to the Department of Natural Resources. Such a sale provides less flexibility for the county with the DNR being in charge of the property, likely creating a wildlife refuge type area.

The board opened the conversation up to speakers scheduled for the open forum. The majority were against continuing the project and against creating a master plan.

Larry Hanson, whose family homesteaded on the base of the mountain and owns half-a-mile of property adjacent to Toad Mountain, gave a history of what he called “the destruction of the mountain.”

Hanson is completely against the original project, but is fully in favor of restoration, especially with returning the trees that were lost 50 years ago when a project to make the mountain a ski hill was started by Chuck Erickson.

“I think it could be easily accomplished,” Hanson said.

He cited utilizing the Frazee-Vergas FFA’s school forest to provide trees and the DNR and other agencies.

“That could be easily reforested and instead of 50 years from now still looking at the dang scars that are on the mountain there could be something else there,” said Hanson. “There could be trees growing. You guys are going to miss a heck of an opportunity here if you don’t move forward with this.”

Roxanne Zick, a Toad Lake resident from 1975, said, “There are too many what if’s and unknowns in the cost going forward.”

Clark Lee, an area resident since 1962, asked the board not to table the issue and to vote on it and kill it. He cited two township meetings and the unanimous votes against the project. 

Biologist Willis Mattson was a proponent of further examination of the GMRPTC grant scoring system and how to tailor that to the desires of locals to restore the mountain. He also spoke on the uniqueness of the ecology in the area, which he has done before. 

He suggested a new RFP with more public input and warned against turning to the DNR because of their foresting quotas and its record of over-extracting resources from protected wildlife areas.

“I do hope you take a little time; don’t act hastily and consider what you’re hearing here,” Mattson said. “Give yourself the opportunity because you’re not committed to anything more than the cost of preparing a master plan.”

Other speakers cited aquatic invasive species already in Toad Lake, future costs and maintenance and a lack of need for the county to own the property.

Karen Daggett of Detroit Lakes submitted written comments and spoke briefly in favor of the project. 

“Be a part of the plan, be a part of preserving that for not just the county, but the country,” she said.

Doug LeSage, owner of Bambi Resort & RV Park, echoed a no vote from the board.

“I think this thing has drug on long enough; I’d really like to see a motion today to just squash it. There’s all kinds of good ideas out there. There’s also ways to do it without the county, without the government even doing it. Raise the funds and do it.”

Former Commissioner Larry Knutson refuted Mattson’s claims on the uniqueness of the property, calling it a “hump in the terrain.” 

“I’m serious and I don’t mean to diminish it in any way,” he said. 

Knutson also spoke against the county purchasing taxed property.

Jepson called for a vote stating she was against the project due to budgetary unknowns and resident input. Nelson created the motion and the county pursuing the purchase of the Toad Lake properties to create a regional park was voted down unanimously.