I'm a writer in the Minneapolis area and have worked with multiple publishers, including Beaver's Pond. First, you need to distinguish the difference between publishers like Beaver's Pond and, let's say, Createspace or Lulu.com. You do pay to publish your book through Beaver's Pond...not a surprise this far down in the thread. But, the positive you will have with BPP is that they do encourage you to come to their office in Edina. One reason this is important is you have the ability to meet and speak with your team. If you are a new writer and have an idealistic idea of how you would be treated by a traditional publisher once/if you get to walk through their doors, that is what you will find at Beaver's Pond.
They will be honest with you in regards to the quality of your book, they read your book and individualize a cost summary, and they are in constant contact with you throughout the process. Every step you go through with a traditional publisher you will go through with BPP. The cover artists, editors, proof readers, are the same as you will find at a traditional publisher.
As a writer you need to do your diligence in choosing a publisher, whether traditional or independent. There are positives and negatives to both. Traditional can give you much more exposure due to their name with limited flexibility in decisions such as cover, layout, and sometimes the writing itself. Independent offers much less in regards to exposure and marketing, but you have the final say on every aspect of your book. Traditional offers a much lower royalty, and contrary to what many think advances aren't typically in the millions. Independent publishers charge you their cost and publishing cost, while the rest is yours. Both will require that you market your own book.
I have worked with Beaver's Pond on three of my clients books and I've been impressed from day one. If you're not entirely sure about them, look at their list of award winners. They have a ton of National and Regional book awards.
While I think it is sad that they have been put on this thread, I have to say that hopefully they are getting some positive exposure out of this. You should hardly "Beware" when someone is forthright with you from the beginning.