The older portion of Petersburg’s medical center will be getting a new roof. That’s one of several projects given the green light by the Petersburg City Council Monday. Councilors also approved spending federal money for improvements at three recreation sites on southern Mitkof Island. In addition, the city will by buying 20 bronze inlays for the new sidewalks in downtown.

State capital budget funding is paying for two phases of replacement for the medical center’s roof, over the part of the facility built in 1967. The city council unanimously approved a contract with Silver Bow Construction of Juneau for over $469,000 dollars to do that work. Construction should start up this summer and be done by sometime this fall.

In other decisions, the council was also unanimous in approving a contract worth over $137,000 dollars for work at three sites on southern Mitkof Island. Petersburg’s Rock N Road will be doing cleanup, road work and other improvements at Greens Camp, Wilson Creek and Banana Point on southern Mitkof Island. City manager Steve Giesbrecht outlined some of the work during a radio call-in show Monday. “The two campgrounds are, it’s a lot of clean up. Maybe some road work in making sure the roads are a little easier to drive on,” Giesbrecht said, adding, “some cleanup of downed timber as well as kind of grubbing stuff out to make it more accessible for folks.”

The project is paid for with federal money for improvements on and around National forest land. Giesbrecht says the city is hoping to secure additional funding for a boarding float at the Banana Point boat launch ramp.

There was some council opposition to another city purchase, 20 sand-cast bronze medallions that will be installed in the new sidewalks during Petersburg’s downtown street reconstruction. The medallions weigh 85 pounds and cost $1,776 dollars apiece. The total cost, including shipping, is just under $37,000.

Councilor Don Koenigs opposed the purchase. “We’ve done this once before. I notice these are non skid. They have a co-efficient of friction that’s better than what the code calls for. But I think it’s frivolous,” Koenigs said. ‘The money could be used elsewhere within the project. And so I can’t support the expenditure.”

The medallions will replace existing brass inlays in the old sidewalks. City public works director Karl Hagerman thought the new bronzes were a good compromise. “There was quite a bit of debate locally with the arts council on how to include some aesthetics into this project. There was a strong desire to retain the character of the existing brass inlays in the sidewalk and we settled on reusing the same designs and trying to make them more user friendly for pedestrians, slip resistant,” Hagerman said.

Councilors Koenigs and John Jensen voted against the bronze inlays, but they passed with a 4-2 vote. Bids will be opened this week for the major downtown street and sidewalk reconstruction project. The work is expected to start up in September.