OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL FISH PIER DIRECTOR
Issued one user permit for calendar year 2015.
Met with John Holden to review an ongoing Grant. Also discussed future Bonds and other funding available for water front improvements.
Public Works has commenced clean-up of pallets and debris.
The price per pound for lobster is still $3.50.
OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
John attended the Planning Board Meeting on 11/18/14.
John and Dave have been busy with numerous inspections on three major
projects in the City, CMCA on Winter St., the Boutique Hotel at 250 Main St. and the new building at O’Hara’s on Tillson Ave.
There was one complaint filed this week.
The following permits were received by the Code Office this week:
o 4 Building permits
o 1 Driveway permit
o 3 Electrical permits
o 4 Plumbing permits
o 2 Sign permits
o 1 Street Excavation permit
OFFICE OF THE CITY ASSESSOR
Processed Real Estate Transfers, updating parcel cards, sales book,
property splits.
Processed Personal Property accounts, updating ownership, owned items,
depreciation, State BETR’S 801 returns, BETE exemptions.
Processed 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 property owner’s request.
Updating Tax Maps and posting to the web site.
OFFICE OF THE HARBORMASTER
Winterized the harbor boat, and she's stored behind city hall.
Started rebuilding some of our electric/water stanchions for the Public Landing floating docks.
Hired a diver to inspect the M/V Monhegan's mooring, haven't gotten the report back yet.
Applied to the state's launching ramp access program for replacement floats for the Snow Park launching ramp.
Spent part of an afternoon with a representative of the Lobster Festival discussing
new ways we can work with them.
OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
The Adult Drawing Class featured woodland animals, while Children’s drawing classes had the theme Let's Draw Native American Designs and Motifs.
PenBay Glass replaced the pane in the Children’s Room which had suffered a
stress crack.
Debby Atwell held the final class of her six-week memoir-writing group.
Patty King made the weekly trip to North Haven Community School.
Rockland Rhythm Masters resumed after a brief hiatus last week.
Thursday evening’s Arts & Cultural Events program was a Camden Conference Talk: Russia and America in the Arctic
I viewed the Open Session (streamed online) of the interviews of the finalists for Maine State Librarian.
The Children’s Room hosted a group of parents from the Maine Families’ Teen and Young Parent Program. Entirely self-sufficient, they are able to make themselves at home in the room, and make use of resources and exchange ideas. They will be visiting one Thursday each month.
ABM added glycol to the chiller system for protection to -35°.
I attended the meeting of the Friends’ Board.
The Hampstead Stage Company performed a live presentation of the Dickens’
classic Oliver Twist on Saturday, a program for all ages (and with audience
participation).
Once again on Sunday, Teens and tweens were invited to write a novel during the month of November during National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo. They met with Ms. Janet for writing tips and advice, followed by free writing with snacks.
Upcoming/ongoing events food drive which will run through December: please share with as many as possible that we are looking for non-perishable foods for the AIO Food Pantry to help out neighbors in need. For non-perishable food items, most needed are: canned fish or meat products (protein food), soup, fruit and fruit juices, evaporated milk and powdered milk and cereals. Also needed: soap – dish washing and personal, tooth brushes and other basic toiletries. This coming Saturday-- the Friends’ Holiday Inn tour, and Silent Tree Auction fundraiser.
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE
The officers responded to 150 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to 6 motor vehicle crashes and 4 animal complaints. Forty-one (41) traffic stops and traffic violations were conducted. The officers charged or made 12 arrests of individuals for various offenses, to include Bail violations, Sex Offender violations, Drug offenses, Alcohol violations, Probation violations and OUI.
Det. Sgt. Young charged an individual living in Rockland with Failing to Comply with the Sex Offender Notification & Registration Act of 199 (first offense).
Officers assisted investigators from the Maine State Prison in locating and
apprehending a suspect. The individual had absconded from his probation
requirements in or around June of 2014 and had not been located until this week.
C.I.D. is coordinating with the U.S. Coast Guard Station Rockland in conducting on- going training for their personnel.
Det. Thompson attended welfare fraud training at the Department of Health and
Human Services in Rockland. This training focused on investigation and
enforcement of misuse of EBT cards.
Officers met with representatives of Ocean Side East concerning assistance in
training on the School’s Crisis plan.
We continue to work with our local schools on updating their respective crisis plan and planning processes.
OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
City wide trash receptacle and building pickup for two days.
Brush crew all week picking up limbs and trucking to Transfer Station (two crews on Tuesday). A brush crew typically consists of two large dump trucks and a backhoe.
Two leaf blower crews for four days removing leaves from roadside.
A crew picking up bagged leaves for a day.
Sweeping city streets, primarily for leaf control, for one day.
Repaired clay sewer pipe and removed obstruction in lawn area off Lawn Avenue at Broadway for a day. Also, reset open channel granite blocks that were
restricting the flow of Lindsey brook at the same location for a day.
Delivered 2007 John Deere backhoe to Nortrax in Bangor once again after having problems with hydraulic power.
Sign maintenance for one day.
OFFICE OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Reviewed status of Brownfield Program with consultant in preparation for follow up with potential new property applicant.
Host and serve as sponsor and presenter at meeting of the Economic
Development Council of Maine, held at Landings Restaurant; presented summary of City Brownfield Program with emphasis and presentation on potential redevelopment of 65 Tillson Avenue property.
Meeting with Fish Pier Director to review status on current grant for engineering and other technical improvements to Fish Pier; Follow up with consultant identifying funding opportunities for Fish Pier.
Meeting with Harbor Master to review status on current or recently completed
grants to schedule work for engineering and design for the Public Pier and its
integration into the Harbor Park Redesign plans; follow up on completed grants
and plans to seek future funding for Snow Marine Park boat ramp.
Review of contract for historic markers on Harbor Trail and how to proceed with consultant.
Reviewed TIF investment schedule with Acting City Manager, revised based on meeting and in preparation for presentation to City Council in December.
Review of consultant summary report on potential to build out city lot within the Industrial Park and schedule follow up with consultant and Fisher Plow.
Attended Dream Local Digital open house, re companies high speed internet;
helped organize and facilitate follow up meeting at City Hall with other Midcoast
communities to discuss how each or regionally we may proceed to plan to invest
in ultra-high speed fiber.
Prepare data and finalize advertising to promote the City as a place for new
business and open markets for existing business.
Follow up on housing program plans and specific housing program requests.
Organize and facilitate meeting of the Rockland Cultural Planning Coalition.
Review and follow up plans for CDBG applications to 2015 Program year.
Continue outline and drafting of Community Economic Development activities
and projects summary report and recommendations for Acting City Manager.
OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
Received 3 quotes for the proposed Broadway sewer extension.
Met with Dave Beaulieu from Maine Water to discuss re-location of the fire hydrant at the WWTP.
Checked a sink Hole reported by Gregg Blackwell on Camden Street in front of Hole-in-the-Wall Bagels
Reviewed plans for a proposed building addition to the Methodist Home at 39
Summer Street to verify the setback from the sewer main.
Received the completed smoke testing report from Wright-Pierce Engineering.
Worked with men from the Public Works Department to inspect and repair the
sewer main between Lawn Avenue and Broadway.
Smoke tested the storm drains in the vicinity of 34 Mechanic Street to determine if there was any connection to a recently discovered sink hole behind 34 Mechanic. Testing showed it was not related.
Completed annual industrial pretreatment sampling on three of the six industrial sources. Will complete sampling and testing on the remaining three sources in the next week or two.
Met with FMC to discuss their new industrial user permit.
Reviewed Fisher Engineering’s new industrial user permit with their environmental
contact and will issue the permit the first week of December.
OFFICE OF THE RECREATION DIRECTOR
The Pee-Wee basketball season has begun. The 5th and 6th grade teams have
been picked and they started practice this week. The 3rd and 4th grade league,
the kindergarten clinic and the 1st and 2nd grade league sign-ups will begin the
end of this week. The kindergarten clinic will start on December 10th while the
other leagues will start on the 14th.
The staff and I have been cleaning and repairing areas around the building to get ready to strip and refinish the gym floor next week. The building will be open
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and closed for the remainder of the week.
The gym will be closed for the entire week. We will start stripping the floor on
Monday and we will put the final coat on Wednesday allowing the floor four good days to cure.
Benjie and I will be stocking the game room and starting next week we will have this space open on a regular schedule.
It’s always easy to tell when football and soccer end as the kids are coming into the Recreation building on a regular basis. There are twenty to forty kids each afternoon when school lets out. They hang out and play some basketball. There is a smaller group of ten to fifteen middle school students that are just spending some time together and socializing in the bleachers.
OFFICE OF THE FIRE CHIEF
In addition to the general response to fire and EMS calls, conducting apparatus
checks, daily cleaning, routine repairs and maintenance to the fleet and of the
quarters, the following occurred:
On Friday morning we held a Fire Department Officers meeting.
On Sunday we were dispatched to a structure fire at Stevens Green on Lovejoy
Street. Thankfully the fire had been extinguished upon our arrival by the sprinkler system allowing the four occupants to safely exit the building without distress. The fire and circumstances leading to two separate injuries is still under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s office and Rockland PD.
While units were still on scene on Lovejoy Street a second structure fire was
reported at 21 Cedar Street. This fire was started outside the home when ashes
from a woodstove had been improperly disposed of, igniting the outside wall of
the structure. Upon arrival the occupants had the exterior fire extinguished but
personnel found fire inside the wall travel up toward the second floor and ceiling
space. This fire was extinguished without incident.
CEO Root and I conducted two site inspections and an apartment building
inspection this week.
Our members received instruction on utilizing thermal imaging cameras. The
instructor was a former Nashua FD Captain who now works for ISG Infrasystems travelling the country providing FD’s with training for safe and efficient operations using this technology. It appears that the collective knowledge of our personnel, on this topic, far exceeds the majority of those the instructor sees.
I worked on preparing the bid documents for a new thermal imaging camera,
and Wednesday evening’s class helped clarify some of the more important
parameters we should be evaluating.
I attended the local EMA directors meeting Thursday evening, the main topic was how to properly document damages and costs associated with events such as
the November 2nd winter storm. It appears that no matter how much
documentation is made, the threshold for the storm to be declared a State or
Federal disaster is highly unlikely.
OFFICE OF THE SOLID WASTE FACILITY DIRECTOR
Met with Gordon Page on creating a recycling and composting program with the Main Street Merchants. I am going to provide Gordon with a written description on how the program would work so he can work with the Main Street Merchants on developing the program.
The Western Star road tractor will be picked up on Monday. The frame was
blasted and painted.
The phone lines at the facility are still inoperable due to the storm.
Contacted the town of Bath to obtain some used flare parts to construct our Q2N well cover. We plan to flare off gasses being generated from the Q2N extraction well.
With the assistance from many people at City Hall the facility Type 1B food waste composting permit has been completed. The notice of Intent to File has also been completed and should be being placed in the local paper and mailed out to the proper land abutters.
Finished repair on a damaged guard on the bailer.
Participated in a MRRA strategic planning conference call.
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