Letter to the Editor: Reader gives kudos to GIBA’s finance chairman

To the Editor:

Bill Holmberg, community volunteer and finance advisory committee member to the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority, is to be heartily thanked by all of us for the yeoman job of correlating all of the innumerable factors necessary to assist in identifying how the bridge, now under construction, will be financed.

His presentation for the GIBA meeting on April 25 at the Community Center was well articulated and easy to understand for those of us in the audience.

Well done, Bill!

Peter Strong, also a community volunteer who serves on the advisory committee for GIBA, served as chairman for the GIBA meeting on April 18. Under his strong leadership, several questions were raised with the engineering advisors to GIBA.

One suggestion was to eliminate the sidewalk on the bridge in favor of a catwalk. The savings was estimated to be $1.8 million. Also, the four-level tender house was to be reduced from four levels to two, which eliminated a back-up generator and reduced costs.

Again, thanks to Peter and other members for trying to reduce costs.

Dave Galliher
Boca Grande