At their April 7 meeting, the Andover City Council unanimously voted to establish the Natural Resources Commission.
Kameron Kytonen, the city’s Natural Resources Technician, said that the move came about from previous workshops over the last handful of months, and had ultimately stemmed from a joint meeting with the Andover Nature Preserve Commission and the Council at a previous workshop.
At that meeting, they had discussed the future of the Nature Preserve Commission, with talk of evolving into a more broadened Natural Resources commission. Kytonen said that the former group had fulfilled their job obligations in pursuing and acquiring land from a bond referendum in 2006 and managing the land over the years, alongside other initiatives.
The Natural Resources commission, which Kytonen said was intended as a successor, broadens the city’s focus beyond land acquisition and into long-term stewardship. They would also be tasked with initiatives to enhance the city’s natural assets and environment as a whole.
Under the proposed ordinance, the NRC would:
-advise on policy regarding the city’s four nature preserves.
-sustainability and ecological restoration.
-assisting with developing plans for invasive species control and reforestation, alongside other initiatives like native prairie restoration. This could also include sustainable landscaping approaches on individual lots.
-promote environmental stewardship through education and public outreach.
-Events like Earth Day and Arbor Day.
-Providing an annual report to the City Council summarizing the accomplishments of the city and future goals.
Saying that there were current commissioners on the Nature Preserve Commission, Council Member Jonathan Shafto asked if they would finish their term. City Administrator Sarah Cotton said that because the previous commission was dissolved, they needed to go through the reapplication process.
“We would certainly encourage our sitting Nature Preserve Commission members to apply for the Natural Resources Commission,” Cotton said. “And that can be evaluated by the Council at that time when they are re-appointing members and assigning terms.”
Cotton said that the NPC had operated more like a task force than it had a formal advisory body, and the move to the new commission would broaden the scope of their job.
Mayor Jamie Barthel said that the biggest thing that the Council heard was how much the city’s residents loved open space and the nature in the city.
“What they moved to Andover for was the beauty,” Barthel said. “And really, the five of us sat down a year ago and said, does the nature preserve need to go to that next level? And a lot of the Nature Preserve members came to all of us and said, ‘Maybe it needs to go to that next level.’”
Barthel said that he was excited about what would happen next with a group that would now focus on not just open spaces, but natural resources more broadly, as well as amenities that residents had.
“Having a group that looks specifically at them, I know I’m very excited to have this group together,” Barthel said.
Council Member Karen Godfrey said that the move was part of an evolutionary process that the city had been discussing for over a year, and that the commissioners had brought forward many proposals and a lot of thought on how it should move going forward.
Shafto said that he was excited about the new direction, and that there was clearer direction on what the city was looking for.
“I’m excited to see what they come up with,” Shafto said. “I know they’re an energetic bunch, and I hope they do reapply because I like their energy.”
Council Member Rick Engelhardt said that the move was a culmination of looking at what the difficulties had been for the commission in the past with getting grants, resources and other items.
“This is gonna streamline it all into one cohesive package that we can get out,” Engelhardt said. “We can get more resources for Andover, we can get more of a vision of what we wanna do with the open spaces. We can open this stuff up to more visitors, more awareness.”