The Rockland Report December 5, 2014

OFFICE OF THE FINANCE DIRECTOR/ACTING CITY MANAGER
 Approved Payroll Warrant.
 Approved Accounts Payable Warrant.
 Audit – Well underway hoping to wrap up soon.
 Attended Agenda Setting Meeting with Council.
 Met with Lawyer and Community Development Director to discuss Credit
Enhancement Agreement for 435 Main Street.
 Met with a company called VTS on website design.
 Met with WWTF Director to discuss the Environmental Compliance Officer
Position opening at the WWTF.
 Reviewed Resumes for the Community Development Director Position – hoping to interview before the Holidays.
 Met with Residents on the following:
1. Old County Road Project
2. Composting at the Transfer Station
3. Sidewalk complaints at Maverick Square
4. Tree Debris throughout the City

OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL FISH PIER DIRECTOR
 No permits were issued this week.
 Reviewed applications and approved all current users applications submitted for next year’s lobster buyers, herring carriers, and bait dealer. All usable space has been accounted for as it was this year. Approval letters have been mailed with the exception of the bait dealer permit pending inspection after removal of two coolers.
 The work on pole lighting fixtures has been completed. Three fixtures were
replaced and all burnt out bulbs.
 Public Works will finalize the cleanup of pallets and debris as soon as possible.
 The price per pound for lobster is $3.55.

OFFICE OF THE HARBORMASTER
 The City Attorney has been finishing the work for our RFP for the Public Landing
ADA gangway, and the Maine DEP has just given us the permit to proceed. We
will be sending the packet out for bids shortly.
 At the City Attorney's urging, we will send out a bid package for replacing 8 pilings
at the Middle Pier at the same time. I've been in touch with the regulatory
agencies, and permitting for that should be minimal.
 Attended a meeting of the board of directors of the Maine Harbormaster's
Association to discuss plans for our annual training in Castine.
 Applied for our replacement floats for the Snow Park Launch Ramp, it may take two years to get them all replaced, but the State's program is a good one.
 Received a report from the diver that the mooring for the Monhegan is good, and we've sent the bill on to their attorney for payment.

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 LIBRARY DIRECTOR
 The Adult Drawing Class made holiday cards, while Children’s drawing classes had the theme gingerbread houses and holiday decorations.
 I submitted a progress report to the American library Association, on the Carnegie Whitney Grant (of Young Adult Booktalk podcasts). Stay tuned for more on this soon.
 Thank you to Public Works staff, who removed Children’s Garden chairs and
umbrella for winter storage, and brought the bench from the front lawn to
Weatherend, which generously agreed to repair it for the Library.
 We had a visit from HeadStart—such fun to see the gaggle of littles, holding onto the rope line as they enter and exit, and enjoying the Library.
 I attended the Agenda-setting Meeting of the City Council, the Managers
Meeting, and a meeting of the PLEA.
 Jean Young made the weekly trip to North Haven Community School.
 I attended a webinar from Booklist, Why Your Library Privacy Policy Matters. Although there were some helpful points shared, it turned out to be more of a long commercial for a new book on the topic.
 Rockland Rhythm Masters held the weekly Thursday session.
 Thursday evening’s Arts & Cultural Events program was one of the Camden
Conference Discussion Series: Russia’s Economy--the discussion explored the
Russian economy from three perspectives — as an economist, a foreign policy
analyst, and an average Russian citizen.
 Patty King participated in the monthly Love My Library radio show on WRFR.
 This Friday saw the beginning of Craft Fridays for the Holidays, with music, goodies, and lots of lovely craft ideas and supplies.
 Jean Young hosted the Annual Tree-trimming party, where Father –Daughter duo Old Town Road, led the children in traditional and seasonal songs, Friends of the Library shared homemade cookies, and the children helped decorate the tree!
 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. Holiday Sing-along on Sunday, December 14, and Simple Gifts Craft Night, on Tuesday December 16.

OFFICE OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
 Met with and discussed Knox County Regional Microloan with existing local
company.
 Continued to prepare report on status of projects for Acting City Manager and
successor.
 Prepared for and attended City Council to request TIF funds for completion of
Thorndike Parking and Harbor Trail Mechanic Street projects.
 Met with existing company to discuss options for expansion of their facility.
 Reviewed draft housing redevelopment plan and guidelines.
 Reviewed and commented on draft white paper on improvement needs to City
Fish Pier.
 Met with consultant and officials at Maine DOT regarding improvement needs
and funding for Fish Pier.

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:
 C Shift spent Thanksgiving Day morning shoveling all the hydrants, making them even more thankful for the afternoon’s turkey dinner.
 I prepared EMS billing for out of town calls from July 1st through November 30th. We are shifting our dates back one month to better accommodate the other
municipalities fiscal year constraints.
 This week’s drill for all personnel was on “bailing out”. This focuses on how
firefighters escape from a burning building when their means of egress has been
compromised. All our interior firefighters train to the most technically advanced
skills requiring personnel tie off an escape rope and rappel out a window. While
this is a rare occurrence, the potential is there at nearly every house fire in homes
with more than one floor, and modern construction may increase the frequency
of the situations due to the more rapid fire development in tighter homes.
 Attended the local building officials/inspectors meeting in Camden with Dave
and John. The group had a guest speaker from the State Fire Marshal’s Office who clarified issues surrounding foam insulation.
 Wednesday night drill coincided with a tragic date for the fire service, being
December 3rd. In 1999 six firefighters perished in a large cold storage warehouse
fire in Worcester, MA. We continue to honor the memory of these brave firefighters by training on safety and survival techniques throughout the year.
 On Thursday morning I participated in a planning meeting of an upcoming mass casualty drill. Rockland Fire & EMS will be playing a small role in the drill as well as evaluating the implementation of the Knox County Mass Casualty Incident Plan.
 Thursday evening Squad 3 assisted the police in searching for a missing person in the area of Ocean State Job Lots. The crew employed a thermal imaging camera (TIC) to help look for the missing person, who was found nearby by the police. While it didn’t end up being the magic bullet on this night, the TIC’s can immediately pick out a person in the dark if they’re within its line of sight.

OFFICE OF THE RECREATION DIRECTOR
 The floor is done and dried. It looks very nice and dried well and we opened it up on Monday morning. The new process holds up well and is easier to put down.
 We have been having a problem with the boilers keeping the building at a
consistent temperature. I have been working on this all week and hope we are
getting close to a solution. Unfortunately, this has taken up the majority of my time this week.
 The first pee-wee basketball games of the 2014-2015 season get underway this
Saturday. It should be a fun and busy day.

OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
 John and David attended MBOIA and IBC training workshops on 12/1 and 12/2 in Portland.
 There was one complaint filed this week.
 The following permits were received by the Code Office this week:
o 4 Building permits
o 2 Electrical permits
o 1 Plumbing permit
o 1 Sign permit

OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
 Set-up temporary city water from the public restroom bldg. to the treatment plant so that Maine Water could shut off service to the WWTP for installation of a new hydrant.
 Worked on overall cleanup of the parking lots and property at the treatment plant to be ready for plowing and snow removal.
 Removed #3 B.F.P. feed pump grinder for rebuild.
 Completed manhole surveys and inspections at the public landing and along
Front Street.
 Assisted Public Works Dept. with a blocked storm drain line on South Main @ Mechanic Street.
 Ferraiolo Construction replaced 2 valves for the by-pass pumping system at
Glenwood Avenue pump station.
 The lab began B.O.D and T.S.S. testing of samples from North Haven.
 Held a pre-construction meeting for the Thorndike Parking Lot project with
Landmark Corp. ,Farley & Son, & MAC Electric. The City authorized them to
proceed with the extra work to the Tillson Avenue sidewalk at this time (parking lot portion will be done in the spring). Farley will submit a schedule for Tillson Avenue.

OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
 Picked up repaired 2007 JD backhoe from Nortrax in Bangor.
 Hauling snow piles from city parking lots to the Transfer Station with Public Works crews for two days.
 Picked up extra cutting edges for snow plows from Fairfield, Inc. in Skowhegan.
 Brush pickup crew picking up roadside limbs for three days.
 Crew picking up leaf piles for two days.
 Crew picking up bagged leaves for two days.
 Picked up barricades, signs, and cones that were used to close streets for parade of lights.
 Snow blowing sidewalks for one day.
 Replaced injector in 2001 GMC dump truck that broke down in snowstorm.
 City receptacle and building trash pickup for 1 ½ days.
 Worked at library for one day cleaning gutters, caulking, storing benches, staking walkways for plowing, etc.
 Replaced sewer frame and cover on Chestnut Street that was collapsing.
 Preparing equipment/trucks for potential weekend storm.
 Sweeping city streets for leaf control for ¾ of a day.
 Called in off hours to set up portable stop signs for traffic signals due to power
outage.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE
The officers responded to 214 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to five motor vehicle crashes and two animal complaints. Seventeen (17) traffic stops and traffic violations were conducted. The officers charged or made 13 arrests of individuals for various offenses, to include Bail violations, Traffic Offenses, Probation violations and OUI.
 Officer assisted and participated in the Festival of Lights events throughout the downtown area over the past weekend.
 Officers coordinating with the U.S. Coast Guard Station Rockland in conducting ongoing training for our personnel that affect the community.
 Officers met with representatives of Ocean Side East concerning assistance in
exercising their school safety plans.