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Register of Deeds urges bulk restoration of 145 historical record books, cites statutory duty
Summary
The county Register of Deeds asked the Strafford County delegation to fund a bulk restoration of 145 handwritten record books, saying the work is legally required and more cost‑effective in one order than continuing piecemeal repairs; officials asked the Register to get a firm bid because the transcript contains differing cost figures.
The Register of Deeds told the Strafford County delegation she seeks funding to restore and preserve 145 remaining handwritten property-record volumes, saying the work is mandated by statute and that doing the project in bulk will save money compared with the current incremental approach.
The Register said the office currently puts about $30,000 a year toward book restoration and that a decade ago that would restore roughly 10 books; at present that annual amount buys six or seven books, she said, meaning the backlog would take roughly two decades to finish at the current pace. "If we were to continue on this path with about seven books a year we're looking at another 20 years to get all those books done," she said.
The Register said the books have been scanned and microfilmed as a digital backup, but she and several delegation members warned that poor scans or pages obscured by tape can make the digital copy unusable and that the originals still require preservation. "Once those volumes are done then they're done," she said, adding restored pages are encapsulated in Mylar and kept on display in the office vault.
The Register said she received a vendor estimate from Kofile and described a bulk discount of about 5–10 percent. The transcript includes two cost references: an early figure read aloud as "$48,990" and later references to a larger figure at the "$480,000 mark"; multiple delegation members asked the Register to obtain a definitive, written bid because the record as spoken in the meeting was not consistent. The Register said she would seek a firmer number if the delegation signaled funding commitment.
Members also questioned whether a blanket 10 percent contingency was appropriate for the restoration line. The Register and others noted that state procurement rules require public bidding for purchases over $10,000, meaning the county must go out to bid and the lowest responsive bidder would perform the work.
Why it matters: County record books are the official repository for historic deeds and property information; the Register said some volumes contain early New England records important to title research and local history, and that deterioration and brittle paper make restoration increasingly expensive and delicate over time.
What’s next: The Register said she would try to secure a firmer price from Kofile or other bidders and provide updated estimates to the delegation. The delegation asked staff to consider the restoration project in the six-year capital plan discussions and asked for clearer documentation of the vendor estimate and contingency assumptions before any appropriation.
