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Michael Hutchinson Recipient of the 2010 Brooks Patterson Community Leadership Award


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The Cattaraugus County Planning Board, at its July 28thAnnual Dinner Meeting, presented the 2010 Brooks Patterson Community Leadership Awardto Michael Hutchinsonfor his outstanding leadership and years of dedicated service in Community Planning and Development for the Village of Gowanda in Cattaraugus County. The meeting was held at the Seneca Allegany Casino Events Center in Salamanca, with 120 people in attendance.

The recipients of this annual award are chosen to give countywide recognition to leaders and volunteers who make lasting contributions to the people and communities of Cattaraugus County and its region and who exemplify the outstanding spirit and example that Torrance Brooks and Donald Patterson set during their lifetime of dedicated service to their respective communities, County Legislature, County Planning Board, and regional agencies.

Mr. Hutchinson's service and leadership includes: 35 years with the Village of Gowanda as Public Works Superintendent/Sewer Department Chief Operator and currently oversees all operational, planning, supervisory, and management aspects of the Village's Water, Sewer and Highway Departments. Mike responded, oversaw and worked in partnership with a multitude of agencies and individuals to facilitate the Village of Gowanda's recovery from the flood of 2009.

He has, through the years, been involved in many projects in the Village of Gowanda such as the Gowanda Electronics Site Acquisition Project; the Center Street School Conversion to a Multi Use Housing and Commercial Space Facility; the Gowanda Peter Cooper Superfund Site Clean-up; the Village of Gowanda Compost Facility Expansion; the Gowanda Electronics/Townsend Street Re-construction; the Gowanda Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion; the Route 62 Reconstruction, Walnut Storm Drainage and Union Street Rip Rap Projects and the Drying Bed Conversion To A Sludge Compost Facility.

Mike has given countless hours of Community Service to various boards and committees such as the Gowanda Area Housing Development Fund Company; Gowanda Area Redevelopment Cooperation; Village of Gowanda Tree Committee; the Village Center Revitalizing Committee,

Gowanda School Board, Town of Collins Water Commissioner and the West Valley Citizens Task Force. He has been a Little League baseball and Pee Wee football coach for many years and is a bass player and vocalist for The Band Archives.

Mr. Hutchinson stated, upon receiving the award, that "when I look down through the projects listed I don't see what I have accomplished, but I see all the people working together to get these projects done". Mike then acknowledged a number of people in the audience who had worked with him through the years on the various projects. "I'm humbled and inspired," he said. "Thank you. I really do appreciate this."