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Islanders pitching in

Doug Flanagan/Post-Register
July 02, 2009

Crescent Bar Island residents participate in a clean-up of the island’s public beach on June 27.

As the debate continues to rage locally about the future of Crescent Bar Island, one of the main things the island residents want people to know is they do make contributions to the Quincy Valley.

Some of those contributions come in financial form.

“It was frustrating to hear people insinuating we’re this drag on the local economy when it’s just the opposite,” said island resident Rob Miner. “We bring in a lot of revenue. The numbers show that.”

Yes, it’s true that the current ground lease rates that island residents are paying is low, anywhere from $33 to $626 per year, according to Grant County PUD figures. Miner thinks that has led people to believe that he and his brethren are ‘living on the cheap.’

Nothing could be further from the truth, Miner said.

“It just seems absurd that we’re spending time discussing evicting us out of 39 acres which produces over $2 million a year in revenue,” he said. “I would bet there’s not another place in the county that raises that kind of revenue on 39 acres. Tell me who else raises that kind of money for the county. It’s a huge swing to lose that income and on top of that maybe end up paying.”

Quincy resident Helen Fancher, a longtime local politician, has what she calls a soft spot for the island residents, and became interested in their plight; the lease between the Grant County Public Utility District and the Port of Quincy that allows them to live on the island might not be renewed when it expires in 2012.

After having a conversation with another Quincy resident who questioned whether the island residents pay property taxes, Fancher started talking to as many island residents as she could to discern how much they pay in property taxes. “I got everywhere from $400 to $1,200 a year,” she said. “The perception has been that these are wealthy people living down there. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are a few that are well off, but I think the vast majority of them are people with limited means. They don’t have great big retirements.”

According to Grant County, $82,348.53 per year is collected from the residents for property tax, plus another $27,000 in leasehold tax. Ten island property owners don’t pay property tax because they have qualified for the a senior citizen exemption, meaning the owners are 65 years or older and have a combined income of less than $35,000.

“Those taxes support Quincy’s schools, hospital, cemetery, library, fire district, Grant County roads, and law and justice system,” Fancher said. “These people are contributing a great deal to Quincy in their taxes alone.”

Iris Mittelstaedt, the owner and operator of Select Rentals, a vacation rental company at Crescent Bar, has rented a lot in the RV park for the last two summers.

“From the perspective of the amount of money that this place is generating with the taxes and everything else,” she said, “I can’t imagine there’d be a better deal out there.”

They also give money to the Quincy Valley in the form of charitable donations, Fancher said.

“They bought a bone density machine and contributed $500 to the hospital in this last year,” she said. “They gave $1,000 to the senior center, $300 to the food bank, $500 to somebody else. They’re dedicated to this community. They’re as dedicated as Danna Dal Porto is to this community.”

They’re also spending money locally.

“Our daughter, Nancy Connelly, works at Heartland,” Fancher said. “She said, ‘Believe me, if those people go, it’s going to make a big impact on our store.’ And it’s not just at that store. They shop at grocery stores. They get gas. They contribute.”

Eric Almquist, general manager of Akins Harvest Foods in Quincy, said that his store has a good working relationship with the island residents. Almquist said the store donated soft drinks for the residents’ public beach clean-up effort last Saturday.

“We have quite a few people from down there, lots of regular customers,” Almquist said. “They are making a financial impact here; we need them. We’d definitely take a hit if they were evicted. It’s because of them that this area is able to grow. We want to help out any way we can. They’re trying to be a part of the community.”

Barbara Gottschalk of the Quincy Liquor Store echoed similar thoughts.

“Their business here varies between the summer and the winter, with more coming in the summer,” she said. “But hey have a big, big (financial) impact for us and a lot of businesses. They are very cordial and nice to have around.”

Cory Vancha, manager at Gate’s True Value hardware store, said the island residents spend more money in his store in the summer as well.

“They bring in a lot of business,” Vancha said. “They buy a lot of home improvement stuff, hardware, plumbing, stuff like that. A lot of recreation and sporting good stuff, too. We’re starting to get some regulars from down there. We’re starting to know their names. They make it known they’re from Crescent Bar, and they’re doing daily business with us.”

As for the low ground lease rate, Miner said the island residents know that will have to go up when a new lease comes into affect, and they are OK with that idea.

“We bought our lots at a fixed price,” he said. “We didn’t pay yearly. I think that’s probably going to change with a new lease. The Department of Revenue has got to get $1 million. That works to over $2,000 a year. Certainly we know that’s going to change. But it’s huge revenue, obviously. That’s a lot of money. The rent is going to go way up, there’s no question.”

But their contributions to the Quincy Valley aren’t all in the form of money, Mittelstaedt said.

“They go to Quincy. They participate in events. They participate in social clubs. They go to church there,” she said. “They are part of the community.”

They also take care of and clean up public areas at Crescent Bar. The residents don’t feel like they necessarily have to do it; after all, nobody’s paying them to. But they figure that if they don’t do it, nobody will, and they have a lot of pride about the overall look and feel of the island.

“I know people who have lived down there for years who do their ‘Monday morning chore,’ as they always call it,” Fancher said. “They take garbage bags and go out and pick up after the public. They don’t see anyone else doing it.”

Mittelstaedt said, “They’re what makes it work here because they live here. The other ones that come in and vacation over the weekend are a different bunch of people. Those people actually live down there and make it their home and care more about it than other people, and they do contribute financially. I think they’d do more if they had more say in how the island was kept up. Nobody from the island has had any say in that for a long time.”

So what exactly would happen if the residents were evacuated from the island?

“Orlan told me they are into their savings to live on down there, and if they lose that, (they could be in trouble). There’s 305 of those units. There’s not going to be any market for 305 trailer front lots. Orlan said, ‘We’re not going to be able to afford to buy a home.’ “

Miner said the island could also undergo significant changes as well.

“A lot of people like the golf course,” he said, “but people don’t realize that if we go, the golf course goes, because we pay for it. The golf course can’t survive without our 400 members that may $250,000 a year to support the course. It’s not just us that would leave. You have to be careful what you wish for.”