PETERSBURG, AK <img src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/newsguys/LOCALS~1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" />
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Governor Sean Parnell has approved ten million dollars for a new firehall and a new library in Petersburg. The funding for those projects and several others in town remain in the capital budget that the governor signed this week. There&rsquo;s six-point seven million dollars coming for the firehall. Meanwhile, Petersburg&rsquo;s library project will receive 3.3 million dollars which is roughly half the amount estimated for construction. Librarian Tara Alcock said she was thrilled about the funding and fire department spokesman Dave Berg said construction could potentially start later this year. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The governor signed the capital spending bill Thursday after vetoing about 300 million dollars from the legislature&rsquo;s three <strong style="">billion </strong>dollar capital spending proposal. For the Petersburg area, the governor vetoed four-point-five million dollars to restart planning and permitting for a road to Kake. He also zeroed-out one and a quarter million dollars in cruise-ship-head-tax-funding for Petersburg&rsquo;s drive-down commercial dock project. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>A number of other Petersburg area projects made it though along with the firehall and library. That includes 50 thousand dollars for the Clausen memorial museum&rsquo;s storage upgrade, 50 thousand for equipment at the Petersburg medical center, 253 thousand for more improvements to the water treatment plant, 60 thousand for renovations at KFSK Public Radio, and another 50 thousand for renovations at the Sons of Norway hall. </p>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri;"><span style="">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>The governor also approved the state&rsquo;s operating budget Thursday. That includes half the funding needed to support marine advisory program offices that had been facing closure in Petersburg and five other remote, rural communities. University of Alaska officials have pledged to match the legislative money with other funds.<span style="">&nbsp; </span></span>