Last week a fellow, and good friend of mine, from Homer wrote a letter to the editor. He implied that the Sterling Highway repair between Baycrest Hill and the Diamond Ridge Road should take priority over the concept of regular ferry service to the south side of Kachemak Bay.

I agree with him in one respect: that section of road is in dire need of attention, and I hope it gets it soon.

On the other hand, when will Homer's appetite for capital improvement dollars ever allow the communities on the south side of the bay a voice? Is it necessary to flog our conceptual request in the public forum to substantiate yet another emergency need in Homer?

Please think back on some of the emergency needs Homer has cried out for and received money for in the not too distant past: build a bypass around town, pave Pioneer Avenue, build a new high school, pave West Hill Road, pave East Hill Road, build a new elementary school out East Road, build a major harbor expansion, extend new sewer and water lines to the Spit, armor rock for the Spit Road, pave East Road, to name a few. All of these have improved your lives in Homer.

During the time these projects were completed can you remember even one time when the communities on the south side of the bay asked for and received anymoney for improvements to transportation infrastructure or public schools?

I, for one, think the Kachemak Bay Ferry Steering Committee made a fundamental error including the word "fast" in their concept. It does not need to be and, in my mind, should not be a "fast" ferry. The concept here should stress "regular" service, not fast. We feel that over a vast majority of the year once a week service is too little.

In a recent Homer News article the owner of a charter fleet said there is no demand for service this time of year and his boats sit idle. My comment to that is your boats are idle because they cannot carry 40-foot semi trailers, trucks and cars, or four-wheelers for that matter.

We need and want a regular ferry service on the south side of the bay. My hope is that you on the Homer side understand this as a concept and work with us not against us, as we have done with you on your projects over the years.

In closing, if the letter writer's comments about having a ferry so Seldovians can work at your new Fred Meyer were meant to be derogatory, we think you were successful.

Tim Dillon has lived in Seldovia for 20 years. He is a general contractor.