DETROIT — The City of Detroit has voted to void a controversial contract signed by Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams with the Ambassador bridge company.

As TodaysTrucking.com first reported last week, Adams was warned by City Council he would be asked to resign if he continued to make deals that “bind (the city) to long term contractual obligations” without council’s legal consent.

The dockland deal, signed last year, transferred ownership of the existing port property from Detroit Marine Terminals to the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority. The port authority then entered an operating contract with Ambassador Port Corp., which would also be allowed to run other transportation projects on the property.

Detroit City Planner Marcell R. Todd told TodaysTrucking.com that the original deal between the City and the Detroit Wayne County Port Authority (DWCPA), transferring the land to the latter, would not be affected.

It’s the Springing Interest Agreement (SIA) which Adams later agreed to contract to the Bridge Company that was the unauthorized action Council voided, he says.

Some critics feel the SIA gives the Ambassador company far too much power and control in the event the port authority defaults on the agreement. It’s arguable that without that clause, the property would return to the city to operate.

There were also reports last week in the Windsor and Detroit media that council voted to cancel a $30 agreement in principal that would have given the bridge company operational control of the U.S. side of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel for 100 years, starting in 2020.

However, as reported by Today’s Trucking last year and recently confirmed by Marcell Todd, this document was withdrawn by the Mayor’s office last winter, meaning it was no longer officially before Council to take any action upon.

The mayor’s office shelved the deal after complaints by several members of council, Transport Canada, and the City of Windsor, which owns the Canadian side of the tunnel.