An architecture team presented a proposal to Madison County commissioners for architectural, engineering, and historic‑preservation services to design the county courthouse rehabilitation and addition. The presenters discussed scope, fee percentages and coordination with state preservation authorities.

Presenters said the proposal’s fees for the design and construction phases are in line with industry standards (approximately 7–9% depending on the phase). They advised that coordination with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) will require recurring meetings and approvals; the architects suggested adding language for local review authorities (the local historic preservation advisory committee and the town council) and including assistance with closeout documents such as operation and maintenance manuals and record drawings.

Commission staff said the county’s bond finance committee (county staff + counsel) will soon select bond counsel and that timelines call for beginning construction in a later year so that work would not occur over a winter. County staff also noted that environmental review will require a separate contract and asked the architects to help identify appropriate environmental consultants; commissioners asked staff to contact environmental firms in Billings to begin that procurement.

The architects said they will convert the draft proposal into a standard AIA (American Institute of Architects) form contract for county legal review and that small adjustments (for SHPO coordination and local review meetings) could be inserted before final execution. Commissioners and staff agreed the contract should be reviewed by county counsel and that bond‑related work would proceed in parallel. The county’s finance advisors indicated the bond market conditions were favorable and could offset some fees through bond premium and strong anticipated credit rating.

Next steps: architects to prepare an AIA form contract for county review, staff to present the contract and a bond‑counsel resolution at the next meeting, and staff to initiate procurement for environmental review services.