Trustees respond to Andover mayor’s second veto

The Butler Community College Board of Trustees have responded to Andover Mayor Ben Lawrence’s second veto of their special use permit with a request to remove it from consideration on the City Council’s November 13 meeting agenda.
In a Nov. 9 letter to the Andover City Council members, Mayor and City Manager, Trustees state they will “continue to seek viable solutions” and will “most likely remain” in their current location on the north end of Andover High School until spring 2021, the actual lease maturity date. The college had been working closely with the Andover School District to vacate nearly 18 months early in order to accommodate the school district’s timeline to be in the new high school location by the fall of 2020. The decision to exercise the full term of the lease agreement was made due to the repeated delays in getting the special use permit satisfactorily addressed and approved.
Though approved by the Andover Planning Commission on two occasions, reviewed by the City Council on September 25, and then supported by the Andover City Council most recently on Oct. 30 on a 5-1 vote, Mayor Lawrence maintains his concern that the college’s presence in the Industrial Park on East 13th Street is not appropriate use of the property, a stance he has maintained since first issuing a veto in 2005.