The Rockland Report April 18, 2014

OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL FISH PIER DIRECTOR
 Lobstermen are now starting to set gear in the harbor.
 Issued one Commercial Transport Building Materials permit.
 Public works removed snow dump jersey barriers for storage in public works yard.
 Making arrangements to take out ramp and place on pier for maintenance. The
ramp skid surface will be removed and replaced with grip strut plating grating for
safety. The ladder that is in the same area will provide access to the public floats
until the ramp is repaired.
 Lobster price is around $6.00 a pound.

OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
 Finished the Annual Industrial User Pretreatment Report and mailed to DEP.
 Due to recent low phosphorus residuals coming out of the aeration tanks, we
started a feed of phosphoric acid to the tanks to ensure optimum treatment.
 The Wet Weather Treatment System sodium hypochlorite tank discharge line was repaired. This is the start of preparations for chlorination season.

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.

OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
 City receptacle and building trash pickup for two days.
 Rebuilding and painting trash can wooden holders and picnic tables all week.
Set out in city (swapping) after completed.
 Set out yield to pedestrian cross walk signs in downtown area (replaced many of the damaged panels).
 Sweeping sidewalks for two days with MacLean sidewalk machine.
 Sweeping streets with Johnson 3000 for three days and Tymco for two days.
Tymco sweeper broke down and waiting for part to be delivered this Tuesday.
 Sign maintenance work for three days.
 Salting city streets for half inch snowfall on Tuesday.
 Repaired bench at Library.
 Picked up load of cold patch at Lanes in Bangor.
 Picked up 100 bales of mulch hay at Warren prison farm.
 Organized Public Works garage outside storage area for a day.
 Stockpiled 100 yards 1” gravel from George Hall.
 In-house demonstration of ground speed salt/sand controls from Fairfield.
 Maine Municipal Assoc. loss control inspection of Public Works building and
grounds.
 One crew cold patching for a day.
 Preparing cement trailer for operation.
 Repaired area on Bog Road where mud coming through pavement and some
ditching work on Old County Road.
 Lawn damage repair work due to plowing for half a day.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE
The officers responded to 178 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to five motor vehicle crashes. Twenty two (22) traffic stops and traffic violations were conducted. The officers made multiple arrests of individuals for various offenses, to include OUI, Traffic Offenses, warrants, alcohol related offenses, bail violations and violations of protection from abuse orders.
 Sgt. Finnegan assisted the Maine Criminal Justice Academy with cadet training in OUI enforcement.
 He has also been coordinating with the Maine State Prison to provide the prison with upcoming training presentations.
 The Detective Division has been conducting a joint investigation with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, and with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency concerning drug activity within the City.

OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
 John Root has been busy with various inspections and meetings this week while Dave Kalloch is on vacation.
 John attended the City Council Meeting 4/14/14, an MBOIA Board Meeting in
Augusta on 4/17/14, and the Comprehensive Planning Commission Meeting
4/17/14 in the evening.
 John also attended the Planning Board Meeting 4/15/14. The Board found the
application complete for ADZ Partnership’s proposed Boutique Hotel at 250 Main Street and the Board has set a Public Hearing for 5/20/14. The Board also found
O’Hara Corporation’s application to replace an existing building at 130 Tillson
Avenue complete.
 The Code Office received a Site Plan Review Application to change the use of a portion of the building at 31 New County Road from retail space to a function hall.
 There was one complaint filed this week.

 The following permits were received by the Code Office this week:
o 2 Building permits
o 3 Electrical permits
o 2 Plumbing permits
o 1 Sewer Connect permit
o 1 Sidewalk Display permit
o 1 Sign permit
o 1 Street Excavation permit

OFFICE OF THE SOLID WASTE DIRECTOR
 Mailed out 405 fluorescent bulbs through FedEx to be recycled with Veolia
Environmental Services.
 Grass seed has been spread in the closed landfill area.
 All monitoring well readings have been done for the week.
 Cover material trucked in by Ferraiolo Construction has been spread over cell
area in landfill.
 Winks Swap Shop has been emptied and fully cleaned.

OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
 Participants in Catinka Knoth’s Adult Drawing enjoyed creating Easter eggs and cards this week, and Children’s Drawing classes celebrated the Japanese Cherry
Blossom Festival.
 Dan Whittier from Maine Municipal Association and I toured the facility, as part of MMA’s annual site inspection.
 The Arts...for Kids & their Families at the Rockland Public Library continued, with Jess Day’s JAMMM (Jess' Art Music Movement & Mindfulness), Dena Davis of Stories by the Sea’s Family Stories: Families Writing Together, and classic movie matinee, Field of Dreams, curated by Erika Pfander.
 Poet Ellen Goldsmith and artist Kitty Winslow presented an interdisciplinary
workshop, Writing Poetry Using Visual Cues, where participants looked at poetry
that breaks with traditional forms, art that combines text and image, and
constructed poems using shape and color as cues.
 The third Fireside Poetry event featured Oceanside High School poets, and coffee, tea, and sweet treats from the Friends.
 Jean Young made the weekly trip to North Haven Community School.
 Staff from Brio Promotions installed Library’s new directional signs, and they look terrific.
 We had live musical guests for the Thursday evening Arts & Cultural Event, with the duo of Simons and Goodwin sharing their beautiful music and harmonies.
 Baby Storytime (held Friday mornings) featured farm animals and Easter bunnies. Two new families have recently started to attend, one of the goals in participating was to meet new people, and the new attendees have become friends. Libraries Change Lives, in so many ways!
 Upcoming events of note—a concert—Ken Bonfield’s Artistry of the Guitar and the delightful movie classic, My Man Godfrey.

 Did you know? Our very own State Librarian, Linda Lord, was quoted in Friday’s New York Times-- From testimony at the public hearing by the Institute of Museum and Library Services on the need for increased broadband internet service for libraries-- “When people can’t apply for jobs or access government services because they don’t have access from home, public libraries must be there for them,” said Linda Lord, a librarian in Maine. Libraries provide essential services, too.