The Rockland Report February 14, 2014

OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
 City Attorney and I met with Dragon products to get an understanding of their proposal to increase the limits on stack emissions of mercury in their cement plant air license.
 Continued Work on the FY15 Budget.
 Met with Community Development Director on the Thorndike Parking Lot Project.
 Reviewed Proposals for Winter Street Improvements.
 Looked over Accounts Receivable Reconciliations.
OFFICE OF THE HARBORMASTER
 The usual, more mooring permits, calls and visits from our summer boaters.
 Conducted a couple of practice Homeland Security drills to satisfy the Coast Guard's rules for the Public Landing.
 Talked to yet more engineers in preparation for Friday's bid opening for the Snow Park ramp repair project.
 Attended the planning board's meeting to better understand the Harbor Park Inn project.
OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL FISH PIER DIRECTOR
 No permits were issued this week.
 Two 8’ by 12’ buildings were removed from the pier and the area around them was cleaned.
 Current Lobster price remains at $6.25 a pound.
OFFICE OF THE RECREATION DIRECTOR
 The 5th & 6th grade basketball league held the championship games for both boys and girls Wednesday night. The St. George boys’ team won against Brooks Trap Mill and in the girls league Mainely Lobster won against the St. George Lady Dragons.
 I am setting up a fly fishing clinic for kids, through Trout’s Unlimited. This will be in the spring at Johnson Memorial Park.
 Brooks Trap Mill donated 17 size 27 basketballs; these will be used for our K-2 basketball program.
 The Recreation Department will be running events for kids over February Vacation.
OFFICE OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
 Continued to advise and assist three existing small businesses for capital expansion, through Regional Microloan or other sources.
 Met with regional economic development directors to discuss projects of regional importance.
City Manager’s Weekly Report
Page 2 of 4
 Continued to meet with property owners along Thorndike Block regarding
improvements to parking lot.
 Met with new business venture to discuss their opening, launch, and future
business funding options.
 Reviewed procedures to apply for Maine Community Development Block Grant
Downtown Revitalization Program and continued to work on budget for
application.
 Discussed project with contacts from Rockland Historical Society and Midcoast
Area Veterans Memorial regarding joint project and grant application.
 Continued outreach and evaluation of Brownfields Program.
OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
 The Adult Art class by Catinka Knoth welcomed students, as did the Children’s
Drawing class which continues each Tuesday afternoon.
 We’ve been gearing up for the Open House, and have had several meetings and
much action around this. Posters are going up around town, and a lovely big sign,
and small invitations are at City Hall, too.
 Faelan (a Scottish Deerhound) accompanied Steve Seekins to Storytime, where
Jean Young read from Jan Brett’s The Mitten and showed cutout characters from
the book. Jean also provided paper mittens for coloring,
 The Arts...for Kids & their Families at the Rockland Public Library continued though
Introduction to Musicality Djembe drums was cancelled on Thursday. Playful
Papier Mâché with Susan Beebe was held on Saturday morning.
 The Thursday evening Arts & Cultural Events was also cancelled due to the
weather.
 The BIG event to note is the Library’s Open House—writing in advance of that
event, I’ll be sure to fill you in next week.
 Wooden Spoon Crafts for Teens and Tweens were held in the Teen zone on
Sunday.
 Upcoming events of note—Miners Creek Bluegrass Band, and Jess Day Music/Play
program series.
 Did you know?—we have museum passes to the Owls Head Transportation
Museum.
OFFICE OF THE POLICE CHIEF
The officers responded to 190 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to
10 motor vehicle crashes. Twenty (20) traffic stops and traffic violations were
conducted. The officers made 10 arrests of individuals for various offenses, to include
bail violations, Warrants of Arrest, Bail violations, Theft, Disorderly Conduct and OUI.
 Chief Boucher and Deputy Chief Tower attended training at the Maine Chief of
Police Conference last week.
 Det. Thompson conducted an outreach education program about Identity Theft
for the retired Federal Employees Association.
 Det. Sgt. Young conducted a background investigation on a potential patrol
officer candidate.
City Manager’s Weekly Report
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 Officers have been working in partnership with several realty management agencies to assist them with the removal of unwanted and evicted tenants within the city.
OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
 Repaired No. 2 Belt Filter Press sludge pump this week.
 Completed wiring the Headworks Building emergency shower tempering water heater.
 Met with Wright Pierce regarding the Summer Street separation project.
 Repaired broken sewer lateral at 11 Laurel Street.
 Met with FMC and Wright Pierce to continue formulating a plan of study to address FMC’s impact on the plant’s treatment efficiency.
OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
 John attended the City Council Meeting 2/10/14.
 John met with the State Floodplain Coordinator and representatives from O’Hara Corporation to discuss a project to replace an existing building at 130 Tillson Avenue with a new 18,294 square foot building. This will require a variance to the required elevation in this VE Zone. O’Hara Corp. has submitted a Variance Application that will be reviewed by the Zoning Board of Appeals on March 12, 2014.
 John also attended the Planning Board meeting on 2/11/14. The Board approved the Preliminary Subdivision Application for Liberty Hospitality, LLC turning hotel rooms into three timeshare units. The Board also heard the continued Pre-Application presentation of CMCA’s proposed new Building at 21 Winter Street. Rockland Harbor Park, LLC gave a Pre-Application presentation for a proposed new 65 room hotel at 12 Water Street.
 License inspections were done with the Fire Dept. at the Landings Restaurant and the Dairy Queen.
 There were no complaints filed this week.
 The following permits were received by the Code Office this week:
o 5 Building permits
o 2 Electrical permits
o 1 Plumbing permit
o 1 Sewer Connect permit
OFFICE OF THE GENERAL ASSISTANCE DIRECTOR
 Made appointments for clients who did not have any scheduled.
 Met with clients who had scheduled appointments.
 Handled General Assistance inquiries.
 Updated General Assistance paperwork and client files.
 Filed end of the month reports with the State.
 Filed Interim Assistance forms with the State and Social Security Administration.
 Made referrals to Disability Advocate.
 Met with clients regarding Hardship Abatements.
City Manager’s Weekly Report
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 Met with case workers and managers on how to make the best use of GA funds for their clients.
OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
 Two city wide sanding call-ins. One on Sunday 2/9 and one on Monday 2/10.
 1” snowfall on Monday. Scraping all roads and sidewalks and hauled off snow with Public Works vehicles and equipment on Monday and Tuesday.
 Approx. 7” snowstorm on Thursday turned to rain overnight through Friday morning. Plowing and sanding roads; snow blowing sidewalks near schools, downtown area, and along primary roadways on Friday; removing stockpiled snow with Public Works vehicles and equipment; and opening catch basins to prevent flooding problems. Most of the crew worked for 27-30 consecutive hours for this storm.
 Preparing for a predicted snowstorm on Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning.
 Tree limb trimming for two days for right-of-way obstructions.
 Mailbox and sign repair for one day.
 Trash pickup for buildings, receptacles, and roadside for 1 ½ days.
 Assisted Transfer Station for one day hauling garbage.
 Opening culverts, brooks, and catch basins on Wednesday in preparation for Thursday’s snowstorm/rain.
 Cold patched pot holes in roads for one day.
(Pulled someone out…)
OFFICE OF THE SOLID WASTE DIRECTOR
 Plowed snow, shoveled & cleaned scale.
 Began to bale 1, 3-7 plastics.
 Scheduled the D5M & 924H for their 250 hour service.
 Completed the 2014/2015 Solid Waste Facility Budget and forwarded it to the City Manager. I have completed and submitted a comprehensive breakdown of all four components of the Solid Waste Facility (landfill, transfer station, recycle building & universal waste) and made the recommended fee adjustment in the budget to make each part of the operation balance. I have also provided an automatic fee adjustment calculator which takes away landfill reserve money and subsidizes other parts of the operation.
 Completed replacing the rubber bumpers on the recycle building loading dock.
 Worked on Annual Report.
 Sent out one tractor trailer load of paper to be recycled.