Have you ever purchased shares of the Chebeague Transportation Company (CTC), even once just to get a reduced fare rate? If so, CTC wants to hear from you.
The ferry and bus service is attempting to go nonprofit, and although the plan has received overwhelming approval from island residents and CTC shareholders, a vote to approve the switch was held up on a technicality on Aug. 25, according to Island News, a Chebeague community events blog. CTC must hear back from more than 50 percent of its stockholders, and the number of stockholders who have responded is still shy of that mark, said CTC Board President Susan Stranahan.
CTC still needs to hear from several hundred stockholders to meet the 50 percent 1 threshold by its Oct. 6 meeting, Stranahan said. According to longtime island resident Beverly Johnson, that’s pretty impressive considering how many shares are out there, and how many were purchased by those who wanted a reduced ferry rate or to donate to the ferry service.
“We bought a lot of stock just to get the campaign started,” Johnson said. “Anytime I had somebody helping me or working for me, I gave them a share of stock.”
This isn’t CTC’s first attempt to go nonprofit, but it appears to be the most likely to succeed. Johnson recalls off-and-on talk of switching to nonprofit status shortly after investors bought ferry and barge services from two local businessmen in 1975.
Island resident and former CTC board member David Hill was part of a committee effort that studied going nonprofit in the early ’90s when the island was part of the mainland town of Cumberland. Hill recalled that the committee eventually decided against it because the process to switch to nonprofit status was more difficult than it is now.
“You couldn’t just run down the for-profit flag and put up the nonprofit flag,” Hill said.
While past efforts were largely undertaken by volunteers, Stranahan said the most recent attempt to go nonprofit has been easier because of the recent decision to hire CTC General Manager Carol Sabasteanski, who has helped coordinate the process.
“It’s been promised to shareholders for decades, but there was never the manpower to get it through,” Stranahan said.
Also, the need for a nonprofit status may be more acute than before. Going nonprofit would help CTC qualify for a wide array of grants and loans, which will be important as the transportation company considers whether to replace aging boats or buses, according to Hill.
“When we looked at this before, our [main] boat was 5 years old,” he said. “Now it’s 25 years old.”
Competing for grants would provide a way to keep ferry costs as low as possible, while still investing in CTC infrastructure, Stranahan said.
“We don’t have to want to push the full cost of this onto our riders,” she added.
Chebeague Island has two ferry services—CTC and a Casco Bay Line—but both Johnson and Stranahan say CTC service is vital to keep the community viable. The CTC ferry goes more often and offers a parking lot for islanders commuting to Portland, Johnson said. Although Chebeague’s town government has not been formally involved in CTC’s nonprofit efforts, nonprofit status would open up the possibility of the ferry service being operated by the town, Johnson said.
For now, CTC is working with islanders to try and track down those from away who have shares of the company, an effort that is proving successful as absentee ballots are trickling in, Stranahan said.
“This is a small island,” she said. “Everybody knows everybody.”
If you have a CTC share and would like a ballot to vote on the nonprofit decision, please call 1-207-846-3700 or email ctc@chebeague.net.
Craig Idlebrook is a freelance contributor living in Medford, Mass.