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<DIV>Hi All, Just want you to know all is alive and well with the YRHC, in
spite of no meetings this month, I am trying to keep things moving ahead.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Today's paper had an interesting article about Chebeague's purchase of a
rental house. I have attached it in text form (and opened it
below) if you did not see it. I still believe rental housing is
critical here and hope we can do something about that eventually.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The remaining grant documentation has been submitted and money should
be available shortly from the Island Institute to begin survey work on Town
Parcels. I used the Islesboro lease agreement as a <U>proposed </U>model,
even though I know we will modify it. I had to submit something as part of
the followup.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We are fortunate to have Alden Robinson for a second year. I have
just completed the paperwork on that and met with the Institute. One of
his prime (and continuing) missions will be to assist our YRHC with our
work. He is a great asset. Thank you Alden for your fine
assistance. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We need to elect officers to the Year Round Housing <U>Corporation</U> (not
the YRHC) in order to complete the 501c3 application. I will call a
meeting of the Corporation shortly to do that (Chee, Steve Train, Leah,
myself). Let me know Leah and Steve what time might work for
you. It will only take a few minutes, but must be formally posted 7 days
ahead to be legal. Thanks,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Let me know of any issues that need attention </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Chebeague takes first step toward solving problem << back to
story >><BR> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Chebeague takes first step toward solving
problem <BR> An island group has purchased a house
it will rent out affordably. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> By TESS NACELEWICZ Staff
Writer<BR>
<BR> August 28,
2007<BR> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> Carly Knight lives on Chebeague Island
full time but has to cope <BR> with a rental
market geared toward part-time summer people. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> That means the 24-year-old and her
lobsterman boyfriend, <BR> Mark Bowman, have to
vacate the house they rent each July so <BR> the
owners can enjoy their property too. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Knight is not complaining. She feels lucky
to have found a house <BR> to rent, likes her
landlord and is grateful to Bowman's family for
<BR> letting her and Mark stay with them this
July, when they couldn't <BR> find a one-month
rental. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Still, Knight said, "I can't imagine what
it's like for young families <BR> with kids who
are doing it -- moving each year and hopping <BR>
around." </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Now, a group that helped this island become
an independent <BR> town is actively working to
help young families with children live <BR>
year-round on Chebeague by creating more affordable housing.
<BR> The goal of the Chebeague Island Community
Association is to <BR> make available homes that
young couples and families can <BR> afford to buy
or rent year-round without having to move out for
<BR> weeks or months at a time. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> "There is a need for rental property on the
island," said Beth <BR> Howe, chairwoman of the
association's housing committee. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> She said the association just bought its
first house, a three- <BR> bedroom home on South
Road, and plans to rent it at an <BR> affordable
price, probably starting in November, to tenants who
<BR> fit criteria that the group plans to draw up.
The rent has not yet <BR> been set and will be
determined using a formula related to <BR>
renters' income and other factors. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> After two years, Howe said, the group will
decide whether to sell <BR> the house as
affordable housing or continue to keep it as an
<BR> affordable rental unit. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> She said the need for housing that
moderate-income people can <BR> afford is great on
Chebeague, a picturesque Casco Bay island <BR>
that can be reached only by ferry or boat. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> While the median income for working families
is $50,000, the <BR> median price for oceanfront
homes exceeds $1 million. Even <BR> away from the
water, the median price for a home in the interior
<BR> of the island was $279,000 in 2005, Howe
said. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> The issue of affordable housing has taken on
a particular <BR> urgency since Chebeague, which
has about 350 year round <BR> residents, became
its own town in July. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> A major reason Chebeague seceded from the
town of <BR> Cumberland after 186 years is that it
wanted to keep control of <BR> its school.
However, if young families can't afford to stay on the
<BR> island, the school would have to close.
Islanders fear that would <BR> lead to Chebeague's
becoming only a summer resort. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> The island's population swells to about
2,000 in the summer. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> The Chebeague Island Community Association
formed in 2005 <BR> as part of the secession
effort. But now that Chebeague has <BR> become its
own town, affordable housing has become a focus of
<BR> the association -- particularly housing for
young families. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> "What good does it do us to gain control of
our school if the <BR> school withered away
because young families can no longer <BR> afford
to live year round on the island?" the association asks in a
<BR> statement on Chebeague's Web site. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Affordable housing, the groups says, fits in
with its mission "to <BR> ensure the survival and
long-term viability of Great Chebeague <BR> Island
as a year-round community." </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Donna Damon, a town selectman, said she
doesn't know details <BR> of the association's
efforts but praised its goal. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> "I think what they're doing is admirable,"
she said. Damon, <BR> whose family ties to the
island date back several hundred years, <BR> said
she worries that her own children, one in college and one
<BR> teaching in Massachusetts, will never be able
to afford to make <BR> their homes on the island.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> "I think there certainly is a need," she
said. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> The recently renovated house that the
association purchased for <BR> $244,000 is in the
center of the island, near the island market <BR>
and the library, Howe said. The purchase was funded by loans
<BR> and grants from the Genesis Community Loan
Fund and from <BR> the Island Institute, a
nonprofit organization based in Rockland. <BR> The
association also raised $25,000 for the purchase. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> The association is planning more fundraising
after it determines <BR> what its next project
will be, Howe said. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> One possible plan is to build some duplexes
that can serve as <BR> rental units, she said.
Currently, virtually all the housing on the <BR>
island is single-family homes, and the rentals are often
<BR> seasonal. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Howe said the island has a need for rentals
"where you can have <BR> your own furniture and
stay for a year or two without having <BR> someone
come and stay for a month in the middle." </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Knight, who first came to the island in 2005
on an Island <BR> Institute fellowship to work on
community development <BR> programs and is now
working at an island lobster cooperative, <BR>
said she and Bowman, who is 25 and an island native, are not in
<BR> a position now to buy a home. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Knight said friends on other Maine islands
are facing a similar <BR> housing crunch. She
praised Chebeague for trying to do <BR> something
about it. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> "It's wonderful that people are putting in
the effort to try and <BR> create some
opportunities and make a difference," she said.
<BR> "Young working families are important to the
island." </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Staff Writer Tess Nacelewicz can be
contacted at 791-6367 or <BR> at: </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> <A
href="mailto:tnacelewicz@pressherald.com">tnacelewicz@pressherald.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> Copyright 2007 Blethen Maine
Newspapers</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> << back to story >></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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