The Rockland Report November 14, 2014

OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL FISH PIER DIRECTOR
 The following permits were issued this week.
o One 2015 Lobster Vessel
o One Lot Storage for 2015
 A lobster vessel permit for 2015 must be purchased prior to renewing a lot storage area.
 The f/v western wave has departed and hopefully it will return in June.
 All trash, pallets, and other debris are being collected in a pile for removal next week by Public Works. End of season clean up.
 The price per pound for lobster is $3.60.

OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
 John attended the City Council Meeting on 11/10/14.
 The Code Office received a Site Plan Review Application for the construction of a 1040 sq.ft. fabric structure to be used for boat storage at 157 Talbot Avenue which is in a Residential A Zone and will require Planning Board Approval.
 There was one complaint filed this week.
 The following permits were received by the Code Office this week:
o 2 Building permits
o 8 Electrical permits
o 2 Plumbing permits

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 801returns, BETE exemptions.
 Processing building permits, reviewing, updating property cards and
assessments.
 Digitizing the old property card information and attaching that
information to the present property card in the Vision software for past
reference information.
 Analyzing qualified sales of all properties and neighborhoods for a fair and
equitable assessment.
 Completing State forms and returning for processing.
 Listening and reviewing property owner’s request.
 Updating Tax Maps.

OFFICE OF THE HARBORMASTER
 It seems like it took forever, but we finally have our last set of floats out for the winter.
 We've been working away at float repairs and we are getting a good jump on
next spring's work. The floats from Snow Park are in need of a lot more work than usual, so our two big float projects will be those and repairing the floats that are used at the lighthouse.
 The City Attorney has been a great help, and we are going to go out to bid soon on the new ADA gangway at the Public Landing. The engineer's estimate is higher than their original estimate, but the state has agreed to kick in more money to help cover their share.
 One of the large cruise ship companies has changed their shore agent, and it is a company we've worked with before during summertime Navy visits. Since he's
been here before, I expect it will make things even easier.

OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
 The contracted week meant neither Adult nor Children’s drawing classes were
held this week.
 Patty King’s training of new staff members Jessie Blanchard and Keith Drago
continued this week, though they are spending much of the time on their own
already. Teresa Verrill spent about an hour with each, beginning to show them
the Library’s cataloging procedures.
 Jean Young conducted Wednesday Storytime this week, which included Fall Ball by Peter McCarty, I Spy with My Little Eye by Edward Gibbs, and A is for Autumn, one of the Library’s new books by Robert Maass. Jean had picked lovely large yellow maple leaves, ironed them between waxed paper and with these, the children and moms made turkey sun catchers. They enjoyed scissors, glue, and making their turkeys very beautiful. One mom mentioned that she came up from Tenant’s Harbor because of the crafts offered here…
 The celebration of World Kindness Day on Thursday saw the commencement of a 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.
 Jean Young made the weekly trip to North Haven Community School.
 No Rockland Rhythm Masters this week, as Tom Ulichny had to be out of town; the program will resume next week.
 This Thursday evening’s Arts & Cultural Events program was the film classic, Harold and Maude, hosted by local film buff Erika Pfander.
 The Library was one of the sites for the Juice 4.0 Conference, on Friday.
 Patty King and I attended a day of the Maine Libraries Association Conference in Bangor, as well as a special dinner honoring retiring State Librarian, Linda Lord.
 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 events— Join Professor Paul Holman for his talk, Russia and America in the Arctic: Conflict, Rivalry, or Cooperation? and another reminder about the Friends’ Holiday Inn tour, and Silent Tree Auction fundraiser.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE
The officers responded to 153 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to 6 motor vehicle crashes and 1 animal complaint. Thirty-three (33 traffic stops and traffic violations were conducted. The officers charged or made 8 arrests of individuals for various offenses, to include Bail violations, Domestic Assault, Drug offenses, Probation violations and OUI.
 Chief Boucher participated in the search process for a new executive director of Sexual Assault Support Services of Mid-coast Maine this week.
 Chief Boucher met with members of a group concerning an effort to combat
substance abuse and promote recovery within the region.
 Officers attended training in Brewer concerning Supervising Patrol Critical
Incidents this week.
 Michael Freyer was hired as a Patrol Officer this past week. Officer Freyer will start on December 8th in his new position. With this hire the Police department will be at full staffing level.

OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
 Roadside tree debris pickup all week. Assisted Maine Conservation Corp. and
Maine State Prison chain saw crews with our Public Works dump trucks and drivers to haul tree debris from roadsides for one day.
 Picked up bagged leaves for one day.
 Two leaf blower crews working for two days removing roadside leaf piles.
 One crew for two days using boom truck to trim high limbs and remove broken hanging branches.
 Picked up 2007 backhoe from Nortrax in Bangor after repair work completed.
 Sign maintenance work for one day.
 City wide receptacle and building trash pickup for one day.
 Removed remaining floats for harbormaster at Snow Marine Park.

OFFICE OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
 Reviewed budget for Thorndike Parking Lot, grant funds, and construction bids with engineer. Prepared recommendation on balance of funding to complete
Phase I project with Acting City Manager.
 Reviewed and continued to revise recommendation on allocation of Downtown and Fisher TIF funds for current and expected projects in preparation for meeting with Acting City Manager and presentation to City Council in December.
 Met with consultant and continued to revise proposed Housing Rehabilitation
Program for the City in preparation for presentation to Acting City Manager.
 Review of Brownfield Program to date and preparation for review with consultant on same.
 Attended Juice Conference, participated in panel on collaboration and
community development.
 Began to outline and draft report to Acting City Manager on current projects
within Community Development Department and recommendations on how to
proceed.

OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
 Cleaned and inspected the sewer main on Grace Street from High Street to
Broadway.
 Met with Tim Vivian from Green Mountain Pipeline Services to discuss sewer main and manhole rehab projects.
 Received final drawings and specs for the Summer Street separation project from
Wright-Pierce.
 Stevens Electric and Pump installed the #3 RAS pump at the treatment plant after rebuilding.
 Removed the #1 pump at Waldo Avenue pump station for rebuilding.
 Met with Dave Beaulieu from Maine Water to discuss relocating the hydrant at the treatment plant.

OFFICE OF THE RECREATION DIRECTOR
 Basketball started this week. The boys and girls 5th and 6th grade league held
tryouts on Wednesday and Thursday. Teams will begin practice next week.
 The 3rd and 4th grade program, the 1st and 2nd grade program and the
kindergarten clinic will have sign ups next week. These programs will start in the
middle of December so that we can finish before February vacation and be
ready for the travel team season.
 I’m working on getting all the information together for the flower baskets on Main and Park Street. This bid will go out the first of the year so we’re ready for spring.
 The staff did a good job cleaning out Winslow Holbrook Park and getting ready for the Veterans Day Medal Ceremony.

OFFICE OF THE SOLID WASTE DIRECTOR
 Preparing for meeting with Gordon Page and City Manager next week. I am
trying to provide an opportunity for Rockland Main Street to work as a group to
pool recyclables and then require haulers to bring them to the City’s recycling
center where they would be baled. We would provide a type of profit sharing
using the Maine Resource Recovery Association. The City would receive a set
percentage of the value of the recyclables for the baling and the remaining
value would go to the downtown merchant group, to assist with the container
rental and transportation. This would force commercial haulers to take materials
to the City as opposed to out of town. I am also going to propose starting a pilot
project for collection and composting of food waste with several restaurants. We
know based on the latest UMO study that 40% of the waste stream is compostable and we have a lot of restaurants. Composting will allow for lower disposal rates for local participating restaurants and reduce our volume of waste going to PERC. I also plan to provide an opportunity for the public to compost but will start with the restaurants.
 We covered the West portion of the gas collection with cover.
 The Western Star road tractor was picked up after having the transmission
repaired. We are going to have the frame blasted and painted next week.
 Continued work on replacing the ram wheels on the MSW compactors, the
replacement parts are no longer available so we are having a local machinist
make us some replacement parts.
 The phone lines at the facility are still inoperable due to the storm. Fair Point has called and pushed out repair twice now.
 Replaced the stone and grates used for drainage in front of the recycle building.
 We completed placing cover on the southernmost cell that was used during the
gas pipe installation.
 The D5M electrical problem was repaired and lights were installed to all the
equipment to be used at night to push snow at the snow dump. The 924
preventative maintenance was completed.
 Began repair on a damaged guard on the bailer.
 Wastewater pumping and analytical results were submitted to waste water.
 We sent out a load of e-waste to be recycled.

OFFICE OF THE FIRE CHIEF
 On Saturday our crews responded to an activated alarm system at Bartlett
Woods. It appears that a bad CO detector was the cause of the alarm. Calls to
places such as this get a more robust response due to the number of occupants
and the fact that many are not ambulatory on their own.
 In response to the previous incident, I participated in staff education for Bartlett
Woods. We went over fire alarms activations, evacuating tenants and safety
measures their staff can do in a fire type emergency.
 CEO Root and I conducted an inspection of a vacant apartment building to
ensure the new owner brought it into compliance before any new tenants were
allowed to occupy the apartments.
 Engine 2 was serviced at Roadside Rescue in St. George for a broken spring
shackle.
 Our fingers are crossed that we finally may be receiving attention from Ford to
address Rescue 3 which has been out of service since late September.
 We had an impromptu demonstration of one of the new Thermal Imaging
Cameras on the market on Tuesday. We are hoping to be ready to go to bid for a
new camera in January.
 On Sunday C-Shift used PW’s bucket truck to remove old fire alarm wire from the defunct municipal box system. This wire frequently comes down in wind and ice storms and last week’s storm certainly held true to this.
 Lt. Leo conducted fire extinguisher training for Target Marketing employees on Monday. Due to a Spam Filter Snafu, this report failed to arrive, but due to the content I’ve asked that it be included just the same.
 A tragic fire Saturday morning in Portland claimed six lives including two young men from Rockland. Early reports indicate there may have been Life Safety Code issues that contributed to these deaths, which should remind us why we take our inspection program and code compliance so seriously. As this was a two-unit building, it likely did not have routine compliance inspections, but the lack of oversight by Code Officials does not absolve property owners from their
responsibility to maintain safe buildings.
 Sunday’s storm caught everyone in our area off guard. We were fortunate that
while conditions were as bad as anyone here can remember, Public Works, PD
and Fire/EMS all worked well together to ensure the safety of everyone. By
Monday morning B-Shift and about 6 off duty and call members handled 18 fire
and medical calls and assisted with over 20 more hazardous conditions caused by
wires and/or trees down throughout the City. Monday and Tuesday’s shifts also
responded to numerous issues stemming from the power outage and wires down.
 Manager Luttrell and I, along with other city staff members and Knox EMA worked to ensure that Rockland had a place for residents to go to get warm, and while we had only one or two official users of this, the Library and others saw some extra activity as people sought warmth and power.
 The provision of warming centers or shelters is a local EMA function that could really use some volunteers to bolster our capabilities. If a situation like this occurs again with either colder temperatures or longer outages we may not be able to provide the basic necessities without utilizing city staff already otherwise tasked. While we have numerous spaces that can be made available to assist people with safe shelter, they all require some level of attendance by the host, which is the City.
 Tuesday morning A/C Mazzeo and I attended a conference at the State Fire
Marshal’s Office in Augusta that explained a state initiative to provide a combine
fire and EMS reporting system. This would be of great benefit to us, as our
personnel currently have to enter two separate reports for every EMS call due to
the lack of integration between the two disciplines. Both Fire and EMS are
statutorily required to report incident data, so streamlining this process will save
valuable staff time.
 Wednesday evening the Library graciously allowed us to use their building for an elevator training class. An outside instructor from Otis Elevator instructed our
members on how to safely mitigate numerous elevator emergencies. Despite
being interrupted by 3 EMS and two fire calls, the class was very enlightening and will help with the 10-12 calls a year we get for these types of incidents.
 Thursday saw another flurry of activity with a fire call at Maverick Square then four overlapping EMS calls that had us utilizing both Thomaston and Northeast EMS.
 Given the Portland tragedy, Sunday’s storm and the recent time change here are a few important reminders:
o Replace your smoke detector batteries with each time change unless you
have the newer sealed battery units. This was just last week, so if you didn’t,
you should. We had an incident here in Rockland last week where a smoke
detector made the difference between a $150 loss and a potential
tragedy.
o Close the door to any room or area not in use. Recent scientific studies on
how fires spread inside buildings indicate that closed doors can be the
difference between life and death and minimal vs. significant property loss.
FD’s nationwide (including this one) are just now changing their tactics
based on these studies which show the flow of air is one of the most
important factors to control. As another direct result of these studies, future
fire prevention efforts will stress parents do whatever it takes to have
children keep their bedroom doors closed while sleeping. We have
compelling pictorial evidence for those who are skeptical.
o Any auxiliary heating device that doesn’t require electricity probably gives
off Carbon Monoxide and should only be used as directed in the owner’s
manual. We’ve had at least one incident this week where convenience
had priority over common sense and exposed numerous people to an
elevated CO condition. If it burns any type of fuel (oil, gas, wood, etc), it
gives off carbon monoxide which cannot be detected without a specific
CO detector, as it’s odorless, tasteless and invisible.
 Lastly, while reminding everyone to change their smoke detectors batteries, I must
note that a house fire last week in Rockport reminds us that smoke detectors are
like the proverbial tree falling in the forest: if no one hears them, they don’t work.
Sprinklers on the other hand typically save the day regardless of who is home.
While designed for life safety, in 90% of sprinklered home fires, only one head
activates and contains the fire.