St. Lawrence County opens bids for highways project; Whitten Construction posts lowest GC offer

Stephanie Kerr, assistant purchasing agent for St. Lawrence County, opened sealed bids for bid number 2026-01, the St. Lawrence County Department of Highways capital project, and read submissions for six construction contracts.

"Today, we're opening up bid number 2026Dash01, the Saint Lawrence County Department of Highways Capital Project," Kerr said as she began reading company names, base bids, allowances and totals that bidders submitted.

Among general-contractor offers, Whitten Construction submitted the lowest recorded base bid at $11,098,500 with a $280,000 allowance for a total of $11,378,500. Other general-contractor submissions included amounts transcribed as $13,065,000 (DC Building Systems), $14,000,935 (transcribed as “contact”), and $14,154,000 (Bete Kring). Kerr confirmed that addendums, noncollusion affidavits, corporate resolutions and bid bonds were present for the majority of GC bidders.

Mechanical, plumbing and electrical contracts drew multiple bids. Mechanical-contract bids included Hydestone (base $1,755,000; total $1,830,000), E and I Mechanical (base $1,609,700; total $1,684,700), Northern Mechanical (base $1,656,000; total $1,731,000) and Burns Brothers (base $1,804,004.84; total read as $1,879,484). For the plumbing contract, Norwood Plumbing's bid was listed as base $649,000 (total $724,000); other bidders included Hydestone, Sheehan, E and I Mechanical and Burns Brothers. Electrical-contract bids included Watson Electric (base $2,425,000; total $2,500,000), Telenk (base $2,247,495; total $2,322,495), and several other firms; one electrical bidder's name and a few totals were garbled in the transcript and are listed as transcribed.

Two contracts drew only a single bidder: the sprinkler contract (Associated Fire Protection, base $439,925; total $464,900) and the fuel-island contract (Dock Tour Environmental, base $768,500; total $793,500). Kerr noted that an addendum for the fuel-island envelope was not initially present but was located before the end of the reading.

Kerr also noted a minor paperwork issue for one mechanical bid where the corporate-resolution page was crossed out; she said that would be "figured out" as staff follows up. No awards or contract approvals were made during the bid opening; the purchasing office will review the bids, supporting documents and bonds as required under procurement rules before any recommendation or award.

"If anybody has any questions, just reach out to our office," Kerr said in closing.

Next steps: the bids will be reviewed by the county purchasing staff for completeness and compliance with procurement requirements; the transcript records no contract awards or votes at the opening.