The Rockland Report June 20, 2014

OFFICE OF THE FINANCE DIRECTOR/ACTING CITY MANAGER
 Approved Payroll Warrant.
 Approved Accounts Payable Warrant.
 Year End Preparation.
 Met with Allen Agency on renewing our Insurance Policies.
 Attended meeting for Maine Arts Commission CCED Grant Program.
 Met with Landfill Director and Mark St. Germain on Master Plan for the Transfer Station/Public Works Garage, Sand/Salt Shed & Snow Dump Area.
 Met with Public Works Director on site for the proposed snow dump area at Landfill.
 Participated in conference call with Mayor- Cape Air Representative preparing for Owls Head Airport RFP.
 Will be attending Summer Solstice on Saturday, June 20 4-8pm.

OFFICE OF THE CITY ASSESSOR
 Processing Real Estate Transfers, updating parcel cards, sales book, property splits.
 Processing Personal Property accounts, updating ownership, owned items, depreciation, State BETR’S 801 returns, BETE exemptions.
 Processing building permits, reviewing, updating property cards and assessments.
 Analyzing qualified sales of all properties and neighborhoods for a fair and equitable assessment.
 Completing State forms and returning for processing.
 Listening and reviewing properties at the owner’s request.
 Updating Tax Maps and posting to the web site.
 Two Reps from Property Tax were here to audit the records and follow up on the sales ratio study for this year.

OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
 Catinka Knoth’s Adult Drawing class worked on the theme of bluebirds, strawberries, and roses, while the Children’s drawing class drew a variety of summer activities.
 The guest reader from last week’s Wednesday Storytime; Judith Andersen, had such a great time, she wanted to come again this week. She read Three Little Pigs, and demonstrated on the flannel board, before letting the littles play on the flannel board themselves. Steve Seekins, also participated, along with therapy dog Leeloo.
 It’s here! Early Tuesday morning, Joe Auciello’s new Library sign, from the PLEA and the Friends, arrived on site, thanks to the generous donation of help and
crane from Prock Marine. Ferraiolo Construction kindly contributed two yards of cement on the day of installation. Other benevolent contributors also helped complete the project --George C. Hall & Sons, who did the excavation; E.L. Spear Lumber, which provided rebar and insulation; Rockland Marine, sandblasting, and Rockport Steel, stainless rods. The PLEA and Friends will have a dedication for the sign at a later date.
 The Library was one of the stops on the site visit by Julie Richard, Executive Director of the Maine Arts Commission; I gave Julie, John Holden and Kit Stone a whirlwind tour of the Library and touched on all the ways the Library is an integral part of the Arts & Cultural infrastructure of the City. In addition to the architecturally significant building itself, and its own collection of art, we have programs for kids and adults on music, theater, dance, puppetry, writing, author talks, concerts, classic films, and drawing classes; we’re home to the Shakespeare Society, and Poetry Month Rockland, and we name the Poet Laureate, which position was created in part to remind us that The Arts go far beyond the visual arts. And of course, we also have resources in the form of reference and circulating books and databases which focus on these subjects. We also offer meeting space for other organizations to meet or share their own specialties.
 A big thank you to the anonymous person or persons who cleared up the Library grounds. I did a trash/cigarette pickup, and found very little to remove, though there had been quite a bit the day before.
 Rockland Rhythm Masters Drumming Troupe, co-sponsored by Midcoast Music Academy and the Rockland Public Library met at the Library on Thursday. I attended their open house last Friday, and MMA’s new space on Main Street is beautiful and inviting.
 Louis Bettcher, hired as an on-call, substitute library assistant continued training; Louis will be called in for hours if none of the regular part-time staff are available when needed.
 Wayne Gray filmed (for Community Access TV) Kate Webber’s Author Talk on Swan’s Island Chronicles, which was the Thursday evening’s Arts & Cultural Event.
 Summer Reading opened on Saturday, with a special Cornerstones of Science trunk, Water, Water, Water filled with hands-on experiments for the whole family. In addition, teens and tweens were invited to a Soda Bottle Science Program, making terrariums, garden irrigation systems, and liquid fireworks.
 Please share the news that the Rockland Public Library will be a new site for the free Summer Lunch Program this year! Also, join us on Tuesday, at 2:00 PM, and make a birdhouse, with help from Peter Proeller and Alan Athearn.
 Did you know? Thanks to the Maine State Library, you can a get a free two-week pass to Lynda.com, for technology training. From animation to CAD to virtual instruments, there are over 2,500 courses available. It’s pretty amazing, and you should take a look:

OFFICE OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
 Prepare final submission to MCEDD for the NBRC grant in support of Harbor Park and Public Pier.
 Meeting with local business and Public Works to follow up and identify next steps for “big boat” route project.
 Continued technical revisions and follow up with DECD for final approval of Downtown TIF Amendment.
 Follow up and prepare on REDAC agenda and associated projects in preparation for REDAC meeting.
 Draft scope of work for PPI grant project to begin DOT support of planning for Camden Street.
 Attend and participate in Economic Development Council of Maine Board Retreat.
 Follow up and respond to three new business interests in the City.
 Facilitate and participate in Snow Marine Park community charette.
 Facilitate and participate in Maine Arts Commission site visit as part of City application to Creative Community Economic Development grant program.
 Participate and follow up on meeting with Winter Street property owners and consultants on redesign and city work on Winter Street.
 Draft work on Coastal Program grants for Fish Pier and Pubic Landing.

OFFICE OF THE FIRE CHIEF
In addition to responding to the normal flow of fire and EMS calls, apparatus checks, cleaning, repairs and maintenance to the fleet and cleaning and maintenance of the quarters, the following occurred:
 A/C Miceli attended a “focus group” session on improving the data collection of the National Fire Incident Reporting System, at the State Fire Marshal’s Office in Augusta.
 CEO Root and I conducted a follow-up inspection of an apartment building to see corrections had been made before the upcoming sale. While all items had been corrected, we found another dangerous living condition with a sleeping area and “office” set up in an attic with only pull down attic stairs as access. This space was ordered to be evacuated and a follow-up will take place on Friday.
 This week’s drill focused on the health and wellness of our personnel as part of the National Firefighter Safety Stand Down Week. This national effort focuses on how personnel can ensure their safety through proactive safety actions both at work and in our own lives. This point was tragically driven home with the loss of Portland FD Capt. Mike Kuscma on Monday. Mike was well known to many of our personnel who had the honor of attending the state fire academy with him and taking other classes that he instructed.
 A shift conducted training on ground ladder placement and use.
 A/C Miceli and Paramedic Adams attended the quarterly Dispatch Advisory Board meeting as part of their duties as Executive Board members of the committee.
 The RFD Training committee met to discuss future training events and needs.

OFFICE OF THE SOLID WASTE DIRECTOR
 Met with C&D volume generator to ensure budgeted volume of C&D is realized in the next fiscal year.
 Sent out 23 Bales of recycled tin and 34 bales of recycled cardboard.
 Drafted Memo to DEP outlining the temporary proposed Snow Dump. Met with Bill Butler from DEP to review site location for the proposed Snow Dump. Looks like the snow dump is all set to be developed. No discharge permit will be needed for the snow dump but we will have to follow the outlined Best Management Practices (BMP’S). The snow dump will also need to be included in the Solid Waste Facility’s Operations Manual.
 Sent out Waste Water Samples for analytical testing.
 Met with Mark St Germain (from St Germain & Collins Consulting) and the City Manager to work on a Site Master Plan for 400 Limerock Street.
 Mowed facility and conducted water level monitoring.

OFFICE OF THE GENERAL ASSISTANCE DIRECTOR
 Made referrals to Disability Advocacy Program.
 Updated General Assistance paperwork and client files.
 Handled General Assistance inquiries.
 Met with clients who had scheduled appointments.
 Made appointments for clients who did not have any scheduled.
 Met with clients who were making Haines Fund requests.

OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
 DEP reported high bacteria counts around the Snow Marine Park storm water discharge pipe. We sampled the pipe for e-coli and also recorded an elevated count. We’ll continue to look for source(s) of contamination.
 Continued sewer main and manhole inspections on Glenwood Avenue and Pleasant Gardens neighborhood. We’re looking for the source(s) of infiltration during rain events.
 Met with Wright Pierce to discuss the start of the city wide sewer and drainage engineering study.
 Inspected a sewer lateral repair at 6 Kelley’s Lane.
 Completed inspection of the sewer main along the west side of Thorndike parking lot.
 Met with Jake Barbour about the proposed Broadway sewer extension.
 Installed new pumps and control panel at the vocational school.
 Started installation of a new influent conductivity meter in support of the PCF/FMC Study.
 Making preparations for the press overhauls next week. The gravity belt thickener will be overhauled on Monday and the belt presses will follow during the week.

OFFICE OF THE RECREATION DIRECTOR
 All three Welcome to Rockland signs will have been painted and cleaned up by the end of the week.
 All parks along Main Street have been weeded, cleaned and some plants added.
 The grass in the sidewalk has been cleaned out.
 The trash route will be done twice this weekend in preparation for the Summer Solstice.
 The new downtown bathrooms will be checked and stocked Saturday, before the event.
 I will meet with the Lobster Festival to start looking at prep work in and around Harbor Park.

OFFICE OF THE HARBORMASTER
 Found two floating skiffs in the harbor and returned them to their owners
 Helped in the salvage and haul-out of a sinking small power yacht on a mooring in the harbor. She was hauled ashore before spilling any oil in the harbor.
 Attended a USCG sponsored Port Safety Forum meeting in Portland and discussed safety measures for cruise ships.
 Finished the rewrite and self-assessment for our USCG facility security plan, and submitted it to the USCG.
 Rescued a nondescript floating dock from the Owl's Head shore and now we need to locate the owner.
 Started our summer dock stewards and we are in full swing.

OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
 Building and city wide receptacle trash pickup two days.
 Painting roads for four extended nights. Completed arrows and started parking stalls.
 Set out barricades, cones, and signs in downtown area in preparation of Summer Solstice celebration.
 Rebuilt catch basin on White Street and repaired catch basin in Recreation Center north parking lot.
 Adjusted catch basin on Glen Street and completed prepping for pavement installation. Performance Paving compacted and installed a 2 ½” binder. Public Works backfilled with gravel/loam/seed.
 2 ½ days roadside mowing with sickle bar.
 Attended Winter Street stakeholder meeting.
 Attended large boat over the road transport meeting. Considering optional routes to waterfront based on wire, traffic signal, and tree obstruction interferences.
 Weed whacked at Library chiller surround and city owned house on Limerock Street.
 Sweeping roads with one street sweeper for three days total.
 Limb cleanup on Oliver Street North and tree on Tolman Road that came down over the weekend.