Caelin Bragg
Advertising & Distribution Manager
UPDATE Wednesday, Nov. 7
Addendum: Mayor issues his third veto on Butler
Andover Mayor Ben Lawrence vetoed the City Council’s motion to grant Butler a special use permit to expand its 5000 building to hold its facilities from the 6000 building.
The veto on Tuesday, Nov. 6 comes shortly after a month’s worth of discussions, concerning both the City Council and the Andover Planning Commission, of the mayor’s initial veto of the special use permit back on Tuesday, Sept. 18.
“I see no reason to approve the special use request,” Lawrence said in his veto. “I would urge [the City Council] to consider the bigger picture and future taxation demands that will be born from approving this special use case.”
The mayor’s reasons for the new veto mirror his original veto’s factors. He strongly believes that the area Butler is in is not suitable for a college and could harm local industry.
This is not the first time the college has dealt with vetoes by the mayor. Lawrence vetoed the original ordinance on July 12, 2005 that allowed Butler to use the 5000 building. Vetoes can be overridden by the City Council by a 3/4 majority vote, which the council motioned to do on July 26, 2005 but ultimately withdrew the motion and voted on the revised ordinance that Butler is currently still using.
The revised ordinance listed several conditions for Butler to follow, which Lawrence says have not all been adhered to and claims that it shows a selfish perspective from the college, which contributed to his veto on Tuesday, Sept. 18.
Original story: The Andover City Council continued their discussions of Butler Community College’s (BCC) Andover project and approved the special use permit with new requirements at their last meeting.
The City Council debated on Tuesday, Oct. 30 over the Planning Commission’s newest motion to allow Butler to expand its 5000 building under conditions that improvements be made to infrastructure surrounding the building, which include road, water and sewer improvements, and that the area be platted by the college. The City Council ultimately voted 5-1 to annul the Planning Commission’s motion in favor of their own, which included time limits on the conditions.
“[City Council Member Clark Nelson] overrides [the Planning Commission’s] conditions to include one: Their condition that the subject property be satisfactorily platted within one year from the publishing date of the ordinance and a number two: That adequate provision be made within one year from the publishing date of this ordinance for the construction and payment of the infrastructure costs necessary to serve anticipated traffic to, and special use needs of, the property, including improvements to Yorktown and Commerce [Streets],” the final motion that the City Council voted on, as said by Attorney J.T. Klaus at the meeting.
The exact penalties for non-compliance with the conditions by the college are currently unclear but would likely include Butler losing their special use permit for the new building, according to members of the meeting.
The meeting was dominated by Nelson and Andover Mayor Ben Lawrence. The biggest concern was over the platting of the land. Lawrence continuingly wanted to halt any discussion until the college had finished the platting procedures, while Nelson argued that Butler needed a definite answer sooner rather than later.
The debate surrounding Butler’s Andover project also affects Andover High School, as any delay in Butler’s expansion roadblocks the high school from their construction. Butler is required to leave the 6000 building by the summer of 2021 and planned to be out well before then.
“Having to have the BCC wing remain would prevent us from building a majority of the new front parking lot,” Andover School District Superintendent Brett White said at the meeting. “That [would] approximately be 150 parking slots that would be impacted by it.”
White also said that, if Butler were to remain at the high school until required to leave, maintenance and continued support for the building would end up costing the school district $500,000 overall.
Lawrence vetoed the initial ordinance passed by the City Council allowing Butler to expand its 5000 building and was cagey during the meeting about whether another veto by him was on the horizon. If vetoed by the mayor, the City Council has the option to overrule him with a 3/4 majority vote.