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Strafford County opens construction bids; review and award tabled

Strafford County Commissioners · December 5, 2025

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Summary

County officials opened multiple construction bids — Perino, Turnstone, Dotens, River Valley, Ducas, Hutter, and an entry rendered as Bauer/Emeritus — with amounts ranging from roughly $2.48 million to $4.82 million; commissioners disclosed a prior personal relationship with one bidder and said bid review and award will be completed later.

STRAFFORD COUNTY, N.H. — County staff opened and read multiple construction bids at the public meeting; officials said they will review proposals and return with recommendations rather than award contracts immediately.

Speaker 1 read bids and related documentation for several firms. Perino Construction (Portsmouth) was listed with a base bid of $2,478,000 plus general conditions of $310,000 for a total proposed $2,788,000; the bid package listed optional add-ons, including removal of an existing bakery building. Transcript entries for Turnstone and other firms included figures rendered in the record in formats that were not always clear; reviewers agreed to examine each submission line-by-line for exclusions and allowances.

Other bids read aloud included Dotens Construction (listed as $3,450,000), River Valley Development Corporation (Newington) listed at $4,822,650, Hutter Construction (New Ipswich) with a figure read as $3,131,008.56, and a final entry rendered roughly as $3,462,000.86 for an entity referenced as Bauer/Emeritus. The transcript preserves the exact readings as presented during the opening and contains some duplicate pages and formatting artifacts noted by staff.

Speaker 1 disclosed a prior personal connection with the River Valley bidder: "I did declare 5 years ago, he built my house," and said he wanted to be upfront. No award was made at the meeting; a participant suggested items be "taken from the table" for subsequent consideration, and the commission then moved to adjourn.

The county did not provide an award decision or a detailed procurement timeline in the public transcript; staff instructed members to check each proposal and its attachments during the review process.