The Town of North Hempstead awarded its Town Dock replacement in Port Washington to H&L Contracting LLC of Hauppauge for $11,980,549 on July 7, 2026. H&L was not the low bidder when the envelopes were opened. It was second.
Five bids came in when the Town Clerk's office opened DPW Project No. 19-03 on Thursday, June 11, 2026. The notice to bidders had set the opening for May 28; the Clerk's official Summary of Bids records June 11. The field, as read: Pioneer Landscaping & Asphalt Paving, Inc. of Kings Park at $10,919,821; H&L Contracting LLC at $11,980,549; Galvin Brothers, Inc. of Great Neck at $14,295,000; Posillico Civil, Inc. of Farmingdale at $14,583,947.50; and Macedo Contracting Services, Inc. of Bellport at $16,595,695. Every bidder posted a 5% deposit.
The Town Board's resolution, No. 349-2026, says the Commissioner of Public Works found that the apparent low bidder, Pioneer, did not show compliance with the minimum contractor qualifications the bid required, and proposed rejecting that bid as nonresponsive. The Commissioner then recommended H&L as the lowest responsible bidder, and the board adopted the award at H&L's full bid price. The resolution gives no further detail on which qualification was not met.
The numbers: the as-read low and second were $1,060,728 apart, a 9.7% gap. From the as-read low to the high is a 52.0% spread, and the median bid was Galvin's $14,295,000. With Pioneer out, H&L sat 19.3% under the next bid and 38.5% under the high. No engineer's estimate appears in the town's award record or bid summary. See the board listing at RFI-002724.
The dock has been waiting a long time. The town says Hurricane Sandy damaged it in 2012 and it deteriorated for years after. In October 2025 North Hempstead announced final U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approval and said it had more than $19 million on hand for the work, including a $6.3 million FEMA grant. The town's scope list includes a taller bulkhead, erosion revetment, turbidity curtains, new gangways, asphalt, sidewalks, lighting and security gates, relocated underground utilities, redesigned drainage, rain gardens and permeable pavers.
Why this matters. This is a marine job with a site package bolted on. Sheet pile, revetment stone, gangways, drainage, electrical and paving all sit inside one prime contract. The bid instructions also required a Contractor's Qualifications Statement and a Statement of Financial Conditions from every bidder, even firms already working for the town. That requirement decided this job. A price $1.06 million lower did not survive the qualification review.
What to do next. Marine, electrical, paving, fencing and landscaping subs should price to H&L now. The contract still has to be executed through the Town Attorney's office before work moves. North Hempstead has also posted a separate construction-management solicitation for this project, DPW 19-03CM, on its bids page. If you bid town work, read the qualifications section of the bid book before you price, not after.