Brownstown Bond Sale

A Step Up in Project Size

By Bob Wade

The Brownstown Township sewer project was one of the first major projects undertaken after Don and I bought the firm. It involved over 10 miles of sanitary sewer that would connect into the Wayne County system. The new collection system was needed to meet the development needs of this rapidly growing Downriver community.

Survey and design crews worked through the winter of 1968 to collect information and design the project to enable an early construction start. The work was done with the understanding we would be paid when bonds were issued to finance construction. However, the Michigan bond market was clouded by an ongoing lawsuit. Law firms were hesitant to issue new bonds until the suit was settled. Senior staff at Wade Trim began to get nervous wondering how we would recoup the effort already invested in the project.

Luck was on our side. A settlement was reached and Miller Canfield, the attorney for Brownstown, proceeded with the bond issue. Wayne County issued the bonds for Brownstown because they had a better rating.

I headed to New York City with Clark Finley, Wayne County Clerk, to sell bonds and pick up the check. The trip was successful, and Clark and I went to the Falstaff Bar to celebrate afterwards. We ordered a drink, but I couldn’t look at the menu until I called Don to tell him the great news. I ran across the street to a phone booth and called Don at home. We both laughed as I told him I was holding a check for $5,000,000 and that we would get paid for all our work.

The Brownstown bond sale was significant because it provided funding for one of the first major projects to be completed under the Wade Trim name and gave us the confidence to move up to larger, more challenging projects.

Delivery of a larger current project was also shaped by funding impacts. For Redford Township, another long-standing Downriver client, an aggressive 9-month design timeframe for Southeast Michigan’s newest CSO Retention Treatment Basin was needed to help the Township secure Clean Water State Revolving Funds including a $20-million grant. A team was mobilized to complete the design and work collaboratively with state regulators to gain regulatory approvals under the compressed schedule. Currently under construction, the project will be completed in late 2027.