In Huntington Woods, the Bond's Street Order Follows the Pipes

If your street isn't on the 2027 list, why not? Pavement condition is only part of the answer. When Huntington Woods ranked streets for the bond voters approved in August, the city weighed pavement condition alongside traffic and connectivity, water main break and maintenance history, and sewer condition and capacity. Of those four tests, three concern what lies under the pavement or how the street connects to others, and only one concerns how the surface looks.

That explains a lot about the bond. Voters passed the Road and Sewer Rehabilitation and Park Improvements Bond Proposal with 75.72% voting yes, according to the city's posted unofficial results. It allows up to $17 million in borrowing over no more than 20 years. Most of that money goes to work no one will notice once the asphalt is back down. The smallest share goes to the parks, which also have the most choices still open.

Most of the money goes underground

The city's March 17, 2026 bond presentation breaks the $17 million into three parts:

The rear-yard line is the least familiar of the three. The city describes this program as protecting property and preventing backups. The presentation does not name specific properties or sewer segments, so it is not yet clear whose backyard will see a lining crew.

The ballot language matches this split. It authorizes storm and sanitary sewer rehabilitation, replacement of existing sewer lines, water main improvements, and parks and recreation equipment and improvements, with roads tied to all of it.

Why Vernon goes first

The March presentation lists recent water main breaks on four streets: Vernon, Meadowcrest, Wales and Hart. Several pages later, the same presentation gives the preliminary road schedule, and three of those four streets appear on it. Vernon is in the first year.

The city does not draw a direct line from those breaks to the funded list, and it presents the break locations separately from the schedule. Meadowcrest, the fourth street with recent breaks, is not on the five-year list at all. The schedule also comes with a plain disclaimer that locations are preliminary and may change as infrastructure conditions evolve, so the money goes to the highest-priority road, water and sewer needs. No matching street-by-street schedule for water main or sewer replacement has been published.

In practice, if you live on Vernon between Henley and Scotia or on Parkwood north of Ludlow, the city's plan currently puts your street first. If you live on Hart, the street that also hosts the Burton Halloween Parade route each fall, your turn is penciled in for 2029. Since the order is driven by what is happening under the pavement, a new break on any street could move it up the list.

The $2 million where the choices are still open

Unlike the road schedule, the parks plan carries no locations by year. The bond presentation names suggested priorities rather than projects:

• Pool infrastructure, including resurfacing and new pumps
• A new master plan for Val Jones Park
• Accessible play equipment and surfacing at Reynolds Park
• Permanent restrooms at key parks
• Court resurfacing, accessibility upgrades and park amenities

The city's 2026–2030 Parks and Recreation Master Plan, adopted January 13, 2026, ranks Val Jones, the Aquatic Center and Reynolds Park as high priorities. It recommends feasibility and master planning for Val Jones along with resurfacing its figure-eight bowl, resurfacing the pool and renovating the locker rooms, and adding accessible sensory play equipment and surfacing at Reynolds. Further down its list are resurfaced tennis and pickleball courts at Gillham Recreation Center, a walking and running path at Rackham Golf Course, accessible entrances at Alligator, Men's Club Field and Val Jones, and updated play equipment at Burton, Alligator, Coolidge/Elgin and Peasley.

That list is longer than $2 million is likely to cover. The master plan's own cost table, in 2025 dollars, puts pool resurfacing at $250,000 to $350,000 and locker room renovation at $40,000 to $60,000. Those two Aquatic Center items alone could take up to about a fifth of the parks share before the pumps, a Val Jones plan, or anything at Reynolds is counted. These are planning estimates, not bids, and the plan describes its park actions as recommendations rather than guaranteed projects.

So the decisions about the parks are still being made. C&G Newspapers reported the day after the election that the city planned committee and board meetings to settle park choices. The paper described Val Jones as a priority for the mayor and pool repairs as another likely use, and stopped short of calling either one final. The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board's September 29 agenda listed Val Jones and Reynolds planning along with Recreation Center updates. Those advisory board meetings are where the parks share of the bond is taking shape.

What happens between now and March

The city is in the stage it calls planning and implementation. It has said it will post updates as projects move forward. Here is the sequence the public record points to:

1. Bond paperwork this winter. City Commission minutes, published in the September 15, 2026 meeting packet, report that staff are working with Miller Canfield and Nowak & Fraus on next steps. A bond resolution is expected to go to the commission in December. The October 20 commission agenda had no bond item.
2. Borrowing in two rounds. The March presentation forecasts a $10 million series in 2027 and a $7 million series in 2029. Those are forecasts, not set sale dates.
3. Road crews in early March 2027. The same minutes say road construction is expected to begin in early March of next year. Under the preliminary list, that means Vernon and Parkwood.

The cost appears on tax bills starting in 2027. The ballot estimated a 2027 levy of 1.98 mills, or $1.98 per $1,000 of taxable value, and an average of 1.91 mills over the life of the bonds. The updated March presentation lists 2.01 mills in the first year and a 1.94 mill average, and notes that actual rates depend on interest rates at sale and on taxable values. The city's bond millage calculator estimates the bond's share of a 2027 bill from your taxable value. The city points out that it does not account for annual assessment changes, improvements, or the uncapping that follows a sale. This is general information, not tax or financial advice. Please confirm your own figures with the city treasurer or a tax professional.

One nearby improvement isn't part of the bond at all. Those minutes also report that Huntington Woods will receive up to $100,000 from an Oakland County transit grant for a new bus stop at 11 Mile and Coolidge, along with other updates. Ludlow, from Coolidge to Henley, is on the preliminary 2028 road list, so the Coolidge edge of the city could see both projects within a couple of years.

Until the bond resolution comes up in December, the preliminary road list and the parks advisory board agendas are the best guide to what comes first. Sellers on Vernon or Parkwood may be listing during spring construction, and buyers may be weighing a street that is due in a later year. If either describes you, we're glad to talk through how a project calendar affects timing and presentation. K&K Real Estate Group follows these city updates closely, including the December bond resolution. Let's Start a Conversation.