A Brief History of the Cranberry Isles Realty Trust, January 2009
At its 1995 annual Town Meeting the Town of Cranberry Isles voted to appoint a committee to study year round housing needs. A year later Town Meeting voted to approve formation of the Cranberry Isles Realty Trust and CIRT's first annual meeting was held in June 1996. Within two years, after revising various applications and bringing in political support, the Trust was officially a Maine nonprofit corporation and received tax-exempt status from the IRS in May 1998.
In 1995 year-round rentals were hard to find and year-round island homes were selling to seasonal residents for prices above what most people working on the islands could afford. Still, in 2009, this is the case. During the intervening time, on Islesford there has generally been a steady population of about 75, made up of people of all ages, and in recent years over 15 students in school. Great Cranberry's population is smaller, around 35, with few young people. The school has not had students since 2000. Some years students commute from Great Cranberry to the Islesford School; in 2008-2009 there were three.
To date, CIRT's primary success has been the acquisition and maintenance of three rental houses, two on Great Cranberry and one on Islesford. Once the organization got up and running, CIRT partnered with the town and applied for and received an approximately $300,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), federal funds that come through the State of Maine.
The grant funds were used to purchase the Rice House on Great Cranberry from Philip deNormandie. The house was sold to CIRT at below appraised value, so the seller received a charitable deduction. CIRT made some repairs. The house has had several tenants over the years and it has been vacant for extended periods of time. Tenants have included: Ginger and Jennifer Cook, Richard and Ingrid Gaither (the only CIRT tenants who came from off island in response to an advertisement), John French, James Bunker, Wendy Rackliff with three of her children, and Christina Curran and her son Fisher.
CIRT was offered another house on Great Cranberry for free if it were moved it to a different location. The house was originally built by Chuck Leibow for his family but given to CIRT by Charles Kane, who also donated a small amount of cash that he would have had to pay to have it demolished. CIRT made plans to move the house to Town-owned land adjacent to the gravel pit and transfer station, no simple task. A well and septic system were installed.
Blair Colby has rented the house by the gravel pit on Great Cranberry since 2002.
A third house, a modular home, was installed on Town-owned land adjacent to the Islesford gravel pit in 2001. Tenants have included: Bill and Sonja Moser, Margaret Blank and her children, Ian and Sheila Krasnow and their children, and Cory and Kaitlyn Duggan.
CDBG funds covered most of the costs of the purchase and installation of the three homes. Additional grants and donations made the acquisition and operation of the three homes possible, including support from: Maine Association of Realtors Foundation; Maine Community Foundation; Home Depot; contractors donating services to CIRT; and generous donations from community members over the years.
At the end of 2004, Rebecca Knowles donated some land between the Maypole and Gilley Beach on Islesford to CIRT. Since the land was not suitable for CIRT's purposes, CIRT solicited sealed bids for purchase of the land. In fall 2005 the land was sold to Dan and Cynthia Lief. The proceeds have been set aside to be used for a future CIRT project.
With assistance of a capacity building grant of USDA Rural Community Development Initiative funds granted by the Genesis Fund, CIRT has been working on a Five Year Plan and related programs and has been able to hire a part-time staff person: Alyson Mayo, who started in fall 2008.
In the more than ten years of CIRT's history, board members have organized informative Annual Meetings, distributed an annual newsletter and other updates, been a presence at community events, and sold fine art notecards, all with the intent of educating year-round and seasonal community members of the need to and means of creating more housing opportunities for the islands. CIRT board members and other islanders have learned from and with other islands about affordable housing needs and opportunities, through direct contact and at encounters organized by the Island Institute and Genesis Fund. Community support has been strong, consistent and appreciated over the years.
~ Prepared by Katrina Van Dusen