The Rockland Report June 6, 2014

OFFICE OF THE FINANCE DIRECTOR/ACTING CITY MANAGER
 Approved Payroll Warrant.
 Attended Agenda Setting Meeting.
 Attended Preliminary Budget Adoption.
 Attended MidCoast Veterans Memorial Meeting.
 Met with a representative from Aldersgate Church on a proposed Public Garden.
 Met with citizen on parking concerns – Granite Street.
 Met with citizen on trees in street right of way.

OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
 Cleared the sewer main on upper Rankin Street with the new root cutter.
 Checked a sewer backup at 186 Broadway. It was the homeowner’s issue.
 Completed a round of Lindsey Brook e-coli sampling. As in the past, the Knox Center and the post office test results were elevated.
 Completed sewer main inspections on Lawn Avenue and Melrose Circle.
 Cleaned storm basins on Columbia Avenue and Belvedere Street.
 Sent survey information to Wright Pierce for Summer Street separation project.
 The new rest room opened on June 1st.
 Concentrated on landscaping and housekeeping at the plant this week.

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 HARBORMASTER
 We welcomed our first small cruise ship of the season, the ACL's Independence.
 We finished installing the water and electricity to the Public Landing floats for the season.
 We inspected our first five rental moorings and they are ready for the season.
 We've just met our projected mooring permit revenue for this fiscal year, in fact we've met and slightly exceeded almost every income line.

OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
 Picked up building trash and city receptacles two days.
 One sweeper (Tymco) sweeping streets Tuesday through Friday.
 Adjusted four manhole frame and covers including sewer manhole repair on Lawn Avenue and Melrose Circle.
 Repaired sewer manhole and reset frame and cover on Willow Street.
 Watered pole flowers on Monday morning.
 Two ten hour nights painting city crosswalks.
 Cold patched roads with one crew for 3 ½ days.
 Approximately half of crew attended APWA Highway Congress in Skowhegan on Thursday.
 Snow Marine Park sink hole filled in.
 Prepping for centerline painter who is planned to be here Saturday night.
 Replaced fuel tank on bucket truck. Set up Maclean sidewalk machine for roadside mowing. Working on 2001 GMC dump truck brakes.
 Started roadside mowing for ½ a day.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE The officers responded to 237 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to three motor vehicle crashes. Seventy-seven (77) traffic stops and traffic violations were conducted. The officers made 25 arrests of individuals for various offenses, to include Bail violations, Alcohol offenses, Drug Offenses, Theft, Warrants of Arrest, Probation violations and OUI.
 I have been working with Maine Department of Transportation Traffic Engineering division concerning clarification of a speed limit zone within Rockland that was brought to our attention by a resident in that area.
 Members of the detective division conducted robbery education training for employees at Machias Savings Bank.
 Officers assisted M.D.E.A. with ongoing drug investigations in the Rockland area.
 Officers educated local senior citizens regarding the fraudulent practices of transient sellers.
With the summer month upon us begins the season of the door to door transient sales in many Maine communities. The Maine Attorney General’s office reminds us that Maine has three door-to-door criminal laws that currently exist to protect Maine homeowners. The City of Rockland has a City Ordinance concerning "itinerant vendor" that may apply in some of the following circumstances.
They are:
1. The Consumer Solicitation Sales Act (32 M.R.S.A. §§4661-4671), which requires that a door-to-door seller of merchandise, including home repair services such as paving or installing burglar alarms, must use a specific written contract and wait three (3) days before even beginning the job. This allows a person time to change their minds if they so choose before the project are started.
2. The Transient Sales Act (32 M.R.S.A. §§14701-14716), which requires transient sellers of merchandise; including goods or services, to be licensed by the State if they do not have a permanent place of business in Maine (which is defined as either a 12-month lease or ownership of the business building). You should ask for the address of their Maine “permanent place of business.” If they do not have one, ask to see proof of their State license as a Transient Seller. Failure to be licensed can be a Class E crime.
3. The Door-to-Door Seller of Home Repair Services Act (32 M.R.S.A. §§14501-14513). This law requires any door-to-door seller of home repair services to be licensed by the State and to carry a State issued license if he is soliciting in a municipality in which he does not have a permanent place of business (a 12-month lease or ownership). For example, if you find a driveway paver who is going door-to-door ask: (a) do you have a permanent place of business in this municipality; (b) if not, show me your State license. Violation is a Class E crime. If the violation is intentional, it is a Class D crime.
Call the Rockland Police department if you feel that a seller you have been dealing with is not properly registered or licensed.

OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
 Catinka Knoth’s Adult Drawing class worked on the theme Hummingbirds & Rhododendron, while the Children’s Drawing classes drew “visits to the seashore”.
 Children’s Librarian Jean Young, and Librarian Patty King continued with school visits this week, for presentations about the Summer Reading Program. We are very grateful to Deanna Tibbetts for the invitation, which allows the Library to connect with so many kids, and to let them know all the Program will offer.
 With Family Place Library™ workshops over till Fall, regular Storytime has resumed on Wednesdays. Jean Young presented Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and offered puppets, coloring pages and a couple of retellings of the original story.
 I missed the Agenda Setting Council meeting, due to a vacation day, but attended the Manager’s meeting the following day, and the Budget workshop on Wednesday evening.
 Rockland Rhythm Masters Drumming Troupe, co-sponsored by Midcoast Music Academy and the Rockland Public Library met at the Library on Thursday.
 Mark Hathaway discussed his bout with locked-in syndrome, and his book, World Locked In, as the Thursday evening’s Arts & Cultural Event.
 I attended the one annual in-person meeting of the Northeastern Library District Executive Committee, in Bangor. All the other meetings throughout the year are done via teleconference.
 On Saturday, Erika Pfander hosted a showing of the movie classic, The Wizard of Oz, as part of the series, The Arts...for Kids & their Families at the Rockland Public Library.
 Please don’t forget these two BIG opening events to summer: Friends’ Annual Book, Plant, and Bake sale on June 14th & 15th; Summer Reading Kickoff!, June 21st. The Friends are looking for donations of books, plants, and baked goods for this event. To contact the Friend in charge of each, please see the Library website.
 Did you know? Library staff or Friends’ members will be at the Rockland Farmer’s Market for a special Storytime, throughout the summer (starting June 26th), weather permitting.
 Correction from last week’s report: The Children’s Librarian did NOT hose kids in the Children’s Garden, but rather, hosted a special Storytime there. At least it was an amusing mistake on my part.

OFFICE OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
 Met with and took application for new brownfield program participant.
 Phone conference with DECD, Office of Community Development to clarify changes to the City’s Multifamily Housing Program. Crafted draft policy changes for consideration by the Committee to allow more flexibility in using funds as intended by DECD.
 Attended Rockland Main Street, Inc. Economic Restricting Committee.
 Prepared for and presented to Council grant application requests and recommendation for changes to City TIF Policy.
 Finalized technical revisions on Downtown TIF Amendment as required by DECD.
 Assisted and continued outreach with Progress Media for development of City insert and business development magazine.
 Attended Steering Committee for Juice 4.0 conference to be held in Rockland, November 2014.
 Organized and held meeting of the Knox County Regional Microloan Committee for review of two loan applicants. Both applicants’ businesses from Rockland with whom CD Department has worked with for many months. Loans approved and drafted press release.
 Attended Chamber event at Point Lookout.
 Follow up calls and emails with two potential new businesses for the City.
 Reviewed contracts and prepared press releases for announcing City award for Lerner Foundation funds (for Cultural Plan development) and Recreation Trail Program (for Harbor Trail).
 Met with Hamilton Marine and CMCA to discuss future development plans and City plans for Winter Street.
 Met with consultant drafting historic marker signs for Harbor Trail.

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:
 On Friday, A/C Miceli and CEO Root conducted a final inspection and sprinkler system test of the new addition to the Rufus Williams warehouse on upper Park St.
 On Friday evening we once again had multiple EMS calls that required we request mutual aid to help cover the City. This was due to our third ambulance being out of service awaiting repairs to a monitor/defibrillator. During this time another medical was fielded for us by North East Mobile Health as Thomaston EMS could not provide a crew due to lack of staff. While the mutual aid system of coverage worked, it showed that at times, the local EMS system can be taxed with as few as four simultaneous medical emergencies.
 On Sunday the Knox County Firefighter 1&2 training programs held live fire evolutions at the Rockland FD training site at the landfill. Rockland personnel assisted with the instruction and oversight of these evolutions.
 On Sunday afternoon Tower 3 responded to Bayside West in Owls Head to remove three uninjured people trapped 30 feet in the air on a construction lift that could not be retracted safely.
 Tuesday afternoon RFD was requested to respond to the report of a boater capsized in the middle of Chickawaukie. Upon arrival the subject was standing on the hull of his overturned sailboat off the turnout on Route 17. RFD personnel board Rockport FD Asst. Chief Todd Philbrook (also of Rockland PW) boat and were able to bring the uninjured party to the shore.
 On Wednesday FF Lowe gave a fire safety presentation to seven children at 91 Camden Street.
 Also on Wednesday, A/C Miceli and CEO Root conducted an inspection based on a complaint of overcrowding in a home and found numerous people living in the basement of a single family dwelling in very hazardous conditions. The tenants and owner were advised to clear this situation immediately and a follow-up is scheduled for Friday.
 Thursday at lunchtime saw a report of a suspicious package that brought police, fire and EMS units to Main St. in front of Key Bank. Due to the nature of the package and how it was left, unified command personnel determined the prudent action was to evacuate the nearby businesses and buildings and clear a three block area of Main St. of pedestrians. RPD officers were able to locate the “suspect” and found the package to be safe allowing the street to re-open a short time later. On a positive note, nearly all the people in the affected areas were very cooperative in evacuating in a timely manner. Public cooperation is one of the key components of success when faced with an unknown situation such as this and with limited staff.

OFFICE OF THE SOLID WASTE DIRECTOR
 Replaced relay on the control panel of the MSW trash compactor.
 Replaced alternator on the Case skid steer.
 PM and filter change out conducted on the 816F and the D5M landfill equipment.
 PM and filter change conducted on the lawn mower.
 Repaired the PTO airline on the Western Star Tractor Trailer.
 On Monday and Wednesday presented requested proposed MSW disposal costs to council for budget purposes.
 Participated in a MRRA Conference call to choose one of the consultants that sent in a proposal for strategic planning for the MRRA. Also worked with other board of directors on our up and coming participation in the next Maine Municipal Association convention.

OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
 John attended the Planning Board meeting on 6/3/14. The Board approved a modification to the approved landscape plan at the Residences at Summer and Maine, 520 Main Street (Navigator).
 The Code Office has been busy this week preparing for the upcoming Planning Board Meeting on June 10, 2014 where the Board will continue its review of the Site Plan for the proposed Hotel at 250 Main Street.
 John Root attended the City Council Meeting 6/4/14 for the continued budget review.
 Work has begun with ongoing inspections on a deck at 743 Main Street that will provide outdoor seating for the new Claws Lobster Restaurant.
 License inspection was done at The Pearl Restaurant, In Good Company Restaurant and the new Hill’s Seafood Restaurant (formerly Bricks).
 There were six complaints filed this week.
 The following permits were received by the Code Office this week:
o 5 Building permits
o 1 Driveway permit
o 2 Electrical permits
o 4 Plumbing permits
o 1 Sidewalk Display permit
o 2 Sign permits
o 3 Street Excavation permits