ST. JOSEPH — The partnership between Berrien County and the Andrews University School of Architecture is the definition of a win-win situation.

The county board approved a memorandum of understanding between the county and the school at Thursday’s board meeting to allow the students to develop a master plan for the proposed 48-acre county campus in Benton Township. The students get valuable experience and the county gets inexpensive help with designing its new campus.

The county will pay Andrews $3,600 to offset the costs of the internship program but will not pay a professional fee to the students or the university.

The county approved the purchase of the property for $759,000 in August by a 9-2 vote — a decision that was heavily opposed by some south county residents and leaders.

One of those to vote against it, former Commissioner Don Ryman, was in attendance Thursday and isn’t letting the issue die.

Ryman again argued the Napier Avenue property is “remote from the southern tier of the county.”

He said having a county campus in north county is “repression of the minority” in the south.

Board chairman Dave Pagel welcomed Assistant Professor Martin Smith from the Andrews School of Architecture, who was in attendance.

“We are looking forward to working with you greatly,” he said.

The students and interns will help with the following projects:

• Developing a written  program identifying facilities and parking requirements

• Conducting a site analysis of environmental, physical and cultural attributes

• Identifying the location of all proposed facilities, entry points, parking and open, green space

• Conducting a preliminary description of infrastructure, drainage and a centralized power plant

• Creating an illustration for the appearance of the facilities and developing a plan for implementation

The property, located across from Lake Michigan College in Benton Township, could feature the animal control facility, county jail, juvenile center and health department.