BENTON HARBOR – Southwest Michigan Planning Commission (SWMPC) Thursday announced the selection of the Dowagiac/Silver Creek Youth Sports Park project for the 2010 Graham Woodhouse Intergovernmental Cooperation Award.

During the SWMPC Feb. 2 meeting at Southwestern Michigan College, Dowagiac, Chair Victoria Chandler presented award plaques to representatives of the two communities involved, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and state Sen. Ron Jelinek’s Office.

State Rep. Sharon Tyler was included in the award, but unable to attend.

Accepting the plaque on behalf of the City of Dowagiac were: Gary Carlile, grants coordinator; Rozanne Scherr, assistant city manager; Matt Stack, director of grounds; Kevin Anderson, city manager; and Leon Laylin, Mayor pro tem.

Silver Creek Township was represented by Supervisor Bill Saunders and Trustee Joel Moore.

Jule Stafford, grants analyst for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Grants Management Program, received the plaque for her office.

As the district representative for Sen. Jelinek, Cass County Commissioner Robert Wagel was also presented with an award.

In a congratulatory letter, Tyler, R-Niles, commented, “It is wonderful that so many people have come together to make this project a success and that their hard work has been rewarded.  I am thrilled that this project will enhance the beauty of our community and southwest Michigan.”

In announcing the award, Chandler said, “The Graham Woodhouse Intergovernmental Effort Award seeks to assure those who search for collaborative change that their work is appreciated and worthy of recognition.”

According to John Egelhaaf, SWMPC executive director, “The idea of cross-jurisdictional, regional cooperation is essential to the SWMPC. It speaks to the efficient use of limited resources, the value of collaborative goal-setting and to the way that most of us see the world – not as jurisdictional lines on maps but as nodes of regional resources.”
This award was established in 1987 to honor former Dowagiac Mayor Graham Woodhouse.

It is presented annually for projects that exemplify cooperation by local units of government.

Recipients receive the award in recognition of outstanding cooperative effort in problem solving.

The criteria used in evaluating project nominations include relative degree of effort by local units, methodology, scope and criticalness.