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State grain lab, combined livestock lab equipment requests highlighted in HB5
Summary
State architect staff summarized two laboratory capital requests: a major repair to replace the boiler system at the state grain lab and an ask to fund unfinished casework and fume hoods at a combined lab near MSU serving multiple agencies.
The architecture and engineering division summarized two laboratory‑related requests in House Bill 5: a major repair for the State Grain Lab’s heating system and an equipment and casework request for the combined lab near Montana State University that serves the Departments of Livestock and Agriculture.
Russ Katherman, state architect, described the State Grain Lab in Great Falls as a roughly 7,000‑square‑foot facility built in the early 1950s. The department requested a major repair to replace a boiler that is “at the end of its useful life,” along with heating pumps, temperature controls and other components to modernize the system.
A second ask — MR 38 in the packet — would fund laboratory casework, fume hoods and fixed lab equipment that were not included in earlier construction budgets for a combined diagnostic and analytical laboratory near MSU. Katherman said MSU funded a portion of the equipment but the state seeks additional appropriation for the remaining pieces after unsuccessful federal grant attempts.
Questions from committee members focused on whether specific equipment had been included in original bid packages and on the relationship of the lab spaces to existing stewardship arrangements. Katherman confirmed the lab equipment was in the original bid package and that MSU had secured funding for part of the fit‑out.
