The Rockland Report

OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
 The contract for MacDougal School Building Demolition and Site Restoration was issued to Ferraiolo Construction, Inc., of Rockland. The amount of the contract was $20,590.00, and demolition began Friday, Nov. 16. Work includes demolition of the school building, demolition of the foundation, and removal of the asphalt apron behind the building and restoration of the property.
 Festive holiday wreaths were hung this week
 On Friday, Nov. 16, the Trap Tree was built at Mildred Merrill Park with the assistance of folks from Bolduc, the Apprentice Shop, the Coast Guard and RMS volunteers. Volunteers also cleaned up and trimmed back the sidewalk area alongside the Park. This work was coordinated by Rockland Main Street.
 The Festival of Lights begins at noon on November 23rd with the arrival of Santa by Coast Guard Boat at the Middle Pier. The annual lighting of the Trap Tree will be at 6:00 PM the same day.
 Attended the Maine Service Center Coalition meeting last Thursday in Bangor. The major topic of discussion was ways to impress upon the State of Maine the need for continued financial support of the Service Center Communities, such as Rockland.
 Attended a presentation of Rail Services in Maine hosted by the MRG group in Freeport. This presentation included a train ride from Portland to Brunswick to Freeport. It was encouraging to hear from Patricia Quinn, Executive Director for the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority that they are still committed to rail service to and from Rockland.
 Began working on a Capital Improvement Plan outline.
OFFICE OF THE CITY ASSESSOR
 Received a new abatement request on 76 Limerock Street.
 Reviewed two homes and a mobile home for assessment purposes.
OFFICE OF THE RECREATION DIRECTOR
 Basketball Tryouts for the 4th, 5th & 6th grade league were held this week; girls on Monday and boys on Tuesday. The number of participants has risen this year for both groups and we had 26 new girls and 28 new boys at the try-out. The coaches meeting for both groups went very well and all kids have been placed on teams. The practice for this league will start on Monday the 26th of November and games will start on Thursday the 13th of December.
OFFICE OF THE POLICE CHIEF
The Rockland Police Department Staff wishes all a safe and happy Holiday season.
 Holiday Travel Precautions and Recommendations:
o Suspicious activity should be reported. You may do so by calling 9-1-1 for any emergency.
o Lock your vehicle. During the holiday period there are increased incidents of stolen valuables. These items may include GPS, cell phones, loose change, and compact discs to name a few; due to unsecured vehicles.
o Do not announce on your email auto response that you are on vacation with the dates you are leaving or returning. This includes both work and personal emails. If you must leave an auto response reply it should contain as little information as possible.
o Set your vehicle alarm if you have one. This may be an excellent time to review the code for any vehicles that are equipped a systems.
o Do not announce to the whole community that you will be gone on vacation. Only let a few select and trusted friends or family members know so they can check your home for you.
o Do not update your travel plans on social networking sites.
o Turn down the ringer on your phone so it can't be heard from the outside.
o Periodically retrieve your home messages so your voice mail does not get full. This could be another indicator you are not home.
o Do a maintenance check of your alarm system prior to your departure. Make sure the alarm company has updated contact information to include how to reach you as well as a trusted friend or relative in the area.
o Contact your local law enforcement agency to notify them that you will be out of town. Rockland PD offers house check services.
o Stop all deliveries to include parcel packages and newspaper delivery.
o Place interior/outdoor lights, televisions and radios on timers. Make sure your lights are timed for appropriate hours.
o Inspect your home prior to departure and make sure all windows and doors are locked and secure. This should also include storage areas.
o Make sure the last person out of the house locks the door. Then make a check of the outside to make sure everything is secure.
 When you arrive home:
o Notify your law enforcement agency that you are home.
o Resume your mail, paper delivery, and subscriptions.
o Inspect your home both interior and exterior for any possible criminal activity or acts.
o Plug in your garage door but, ensure that you have removed all external locking devices.

OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
 HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL FROM THE CODE OFFICE!!!
 John Root contacted the architect for the Thorndike Building on Main Street to discuss a problem with gutters along the Main Street side of the building. They will be working to expedite the repair.
 The building at 684 Main Street which was formerly a tattoo shop will soon become a hair salon.
 Electrical inspection was done for the new traffic lights at the corner of Broadway and Park Street.
 The code office has approved a permit for a small addition to a Machine Shop at 206 Old County Road.
 Work continues with ongoing inspections including both plumbing and foundation at Home Kitchen Café.
 Reviewed for, inspected, and issued the following permits:
o Five Building permits
o Two Electrical permits
o One Plumbing permit
OFFICE OF THE GENERAL ASSISTANCE ADMINISTRATOR
 Handled 19 calls
 Walk-ins for the following reasons: Electricity, Follow-ups, Heat, Homelessness, Housing, Miscellaneous and Unspecified.
 Met with 12 clients.
 Processed 9 applications
 $6,964.39 was requested and $2,987.84 was approved.
OFFICE OF THE FISHERMAN’S PIER DIRECTOR
 The price per pound for lobster remains at $2.95.
 Lobstermen are still bringing in trap gear for winter storage.
 No permits issued.
 Received one permit request for next year’s current user application for a Lobster Buyer Station.
OFFICE OF THE FINANCE DIRECTOR
 Approved Payroll Warrant
 Worked on City Asset Worksheet
 Audit Work FY2012
OFFICE OF THE FIRE CHIEF
In addition to responding to the normal flow of fire and EMS calls, daily shift training, apparatus checks, cleaning, repairs and maintenance to the fleet and cleaning and maintenance of the quarters, the following occurred:
 Squad 3 and Rescue 3 (C-shift), along with C-1 (Chief Jordan), responded to the fatal plane crash at Knox County Airport on Friday evening.
 Paramedic Adams, Attorney Beal and others completed the City’s Medicare Enrollment Application (48 pages) in order to keep Rockland Fire & EMS on their list of vendor/payees.
 PDQ Door provided repairs to the aging overhead doors at the station. Last week the door to Bay 2 was stuck in the closed position and Bay 5 was stuck in the 1/3 open position. Obviously these doors need to function properly in order to allow our apparatus to respond to emergencies. We have been putting off a full preventive maintenance overhaul for the past few years but the events of last week suggest that it will be time in the FY 2014 budget to include the same.
 May all of you have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving.
OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
 Continued with city wide fall leaf/brush pickup.
 Ferraiolo Construction worked on demolition of MacDougal school building.
 Set out barricades and extra trash bags in preparation of Festival of Lights parade.
 AD Electric worked on MDOT signal upgrade project at Park Street and Broadway.
 Cold patched potholes in roadways.
OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
 Peter Townsend of PT Electric did a preliminary check of the unlit outdoor lighting, and will be replacing bulbs on a number of the tall stanchions.
 Steve Seekins and two members of Therapy Dogs International, Shi Tzu’s Jinga and Iski delighted children during the weekly Wednesday Story Time. This will be an ongoing program, so if you have young ones, or know someone who does, this is a great addition to the Library’s line-up.
 The big event for the week will be Saturday’s Holiday House Tour and Festival of Trees—an Annual Event of the Friends’. So far 22 gorgeous (and valuable) trees have been beautifully decorated and generously donated by local business and organizations. They’ll be auctioned off (silent auction) on Saturday, the proceeds benefiting the Library. Take the tour and/or bid on a wonderful tree!
 Steve Betts interviewed me regarding the Rockland Public Library’s Star designation, and is planning to do a small video clip during the Festival of Trees.
 The Library will be closed this Thursday and Friday, but will be open Saturday and Sunday.
 The Book Stop will have extended hours on Saturdays beginning this coming weekend through Christmas, for holiday shopping (the best bargain in town—after the Library itself, of course); these special Saturday hours will be 10 am to 4 pm.
OFFICE OF THE SOLID WASTE DIRECTOR
 Began the acceptance of demolition material being generated from the MacDougal school demolition in addition to 800 cubic yards of processed demolition and demolition taken in from the general public.
 Processed incoming leaves and turned the windrow in the compost area.
 Planted and mulched the remaining 54 trees at the solid waste facility. The trees will need to set for a year or so prior to attempting to replant any of them otherwise the additional shock will most probably kill them (according the tree nursery expert). The trees needed to be planted or they likely would not have made it thru the winter.
 Scheduled the inspection of the pick-up truck and trailer number 2 with Public Works.
 Paula Clark (Solid Waste Director of MDEP) has contacted me regarding Rockland being exempt from the LD 1278 rule. After I made my case (based on the rule exemption and the site description) Paula said she would review the situation with the project manager and get back to me no later than 11/30/12 with a decision.
CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
 Recreation Building
o The ceiling over the front entrance portico has been installed and the stucco finish applied. In order to do this correctly, it was necessary to tent the area and use heaters to allow the finish to cure correctly.
o The construction company began demolition of the front slab under the portico on Tuesday. This project is going a little slower than expected due to the thickness of the slab and the fact that railroad tracks were used to reinforce the concrete above the two storage closets located at each end of the slab.
o I met with Gartley & Dorsky on Friday and discussed doing the design work for the sidewalk grant. The timeline has been set and sent to MDOT.