Becker County Board recently declined to pursue new regional park at Toad Mountain

By Robert Williams

Editor

After voting unanimously to not pursue the purchase of the Toad Mountain project at the September 17 Becker County Board of Commissioners meeting, the county has decided to put the project back on the commissioners’ agenda to discuss potentially receiving a $50,000 anonymous donation.

The donation is very near the amount of money that would be needed to have a Master Plan study completed to assess the land and entertain feedback in discussing potential uses for both the lakeshore parcel and the mountain parcel.

That cost for the Master Plan was estimated at $54,935.

According to a revised press release from County Administrator Carrie Smith, “the donation will be used to fund the Master Plan, which is the first step in moving the project forward. The Land for Public Trust will work in partnership with Becker County to acquire the property, until which time grant funds are acquired for the procurement of the property to include the mountain and lakeshore.

“The possible acquisition of this property will allow the public the ability to enjoy access to an exceptional outdoor experience,” Smith continued. “The wishes of the donors are to prioritize environmental sustainability and for public access and non-motorized recreational activities for public wellbeing.”

At the September 17 meeting, all four commissioners cited unknowns in the county’s budget and unknown costs relative to the Toad Mountain project as reasons to not pursue it further, but also stated they saw merit in the project as a whole. For the most part, especially for Commissioner Richard Vareberg, it was the consensus of those people who lived in the area and how they felt about the project that convinced him to vote against it.

Commissioner Erica Jepson has been at all of the recent Toad Lake Township meetings and other than a small minority who are in favor of returning the mountain to its natural state, the vast majority of local residents are dead set against the project.

The 4-0 vote against the project (Board Chairman John Okeson was absent from the meeting) was based on Commissioner Barry Nelson’s motion to, “reject all service provider offers and bids, including SRF, who was the one recommended and discontinue our pursuit of the purchase of Toad Mountain.”

There was no further discussion, other than Nelson asking Smith if she had anything else to add to the resolution.

“I don’t,” said Smith. 

Nelson went so far as to thank the sellers, the Schlossman family, for their offer and thanked Environmental Services Administrator Steve Skoog for his work in bringing the project to the public, sometimes under criticism. Nelson also thanked the many Toad Lake residents in attendance for their input and closed the issue to applause from that group.

Those residents will likely return in full force now that $50,000 has put the issue back on the agenda. The donation has been added to the agenda for the Oct. 1 Board of Commissioners meeting, which will be held at the Becker County Courthouse on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 8:15 a.m.