The Rockland Report January 2, 2015

OFFICE OF THE FINANCE DIRECTOR/ACTING CITY MANAGER
 Approved Payroll Warrant.
 Approved Accounts Payable Warrant.
 Atlantic Environmental Contractors performed an air quality test in City Hall, results
favorable no issues.
 Hired for both Assistant Waste Water Director Position and Community
Development Director. David St. Laurent will assume the duties of Assistant Waste Water Director and Audra Caler-Bell has been hired for the Community
Development Director. Both start their duties on January 20, 2015. Public Works
Director, Greg Blackwell, will oversee the Transfer Station while we debate
combining the departments of Public Works and Transfer Station.

OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL FISH PIER DIRECTOR
 Two 2015 Lobster Vessel permits were issued this week.
 Serviced fuel tanks. Maritime replaced all four nozzles.
 The pier replaced four fuel filters. Flushed out gas tank. Both tanks have been filled by current user and turned over to the pier for re-issue to Lobster Buyers for 2015.
 Submitted PO’s and user bills to City hall Finance Department.
 Worked on FY- 2016 proposed budget. Submitted same to City Manager.
 The price per pound for lobster is $5.25.

OFFICE OF THE HARBORMASTER
 Spent much of this week printing the envelopes and forms for the mooring permit renewals, and then collating and stuffing them so they are ready to get mailed out on Monday.
 Contacted the Buoy Park food vendors to remind them to reapply if they wish to return for next summer.
 Winter is also a chance to meet with many of our harbor users and businesses, and this week was busy with a number of visitors.

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
 Upon opening the building Monday, I discovered we had no heat; by early
afternoon, the boiler motor had been replaced, and the Library was comfortable
again.
 No Adult Drawing class was held this week, but Catinka Knoth’s Children’s
Drawing Class had a theme of “Let’s Draw New Year’s Celebrations.”
 Maine Controls was here to make repairs and revise programming as per the
recent proposal from Cordjia.
 ABM repaired and tested the manifold leak (part of the radiant floor system).
 Jean Young reported the Children’s Room was exceptionally busy Tuesday,
through the evening, with families sprawled across the floor, and thoroughly
enjoying themselves.
 Patty King delivered the 180 pounds of food collected at the Library to the AIO Food Pantry.
 I met with members of staff regarding ongoing and upcoming projects.
 Children’s Librarian Jean Young hosted the weekly Baby Storytime.
 Saturday saw the first of the five-part series, “Mirror of Maine: The Maine
Community in Myth and Reality, “a scholar-led book discussion, brought to us by a grant from the Maine Humanities Council. This program features one book a month, and continues through May. More information can be found on the
Library’s website or Facebook page.
 Upcoming: New LEGO Club, beginning in January, and recurring every other
Tuesday; EBooks for tablets, January 17.
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 we assisted RPD with two “hazard to motorists” calls, where wires were hanging in the roadway. In both cases personnel were able to safely secure the hazard until the appropriate utility company could respond and correct the issue.
 We finished the calendar year with 2108 documented incidents, up 26 calls from 2013. The number is down from where we might have been had we not
consolidated some of our inspection duties with the Code Office. This was done
due to the three assistant chief’s absorbing some of Chief Jordan’s duties back in
May of 2014. This resulted in far fewer incident numbers drawn, as those
inspections are documented as service calls in the National Fire Incident
Reporting System. We anticipate having a breakdown on the types of calls,
average response times and other pertinent data with the next week or two as
our reports are reviewed and closed out for the year.

OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
 Interstate Septic cleaned and pumped the wetwells at Glenwood Avenue and
Waldo Avenue pump stations.
 Cleaned the electronic D.O. probes in the aeration basins.
 Repaired the pipe insulation and tested the heat trace on the outside chemical
tanks.
 Replaced the battery in the WWTP backup generator.
 Worked on entering new data and editing the G.I.S.
 Inspected a new sewer lateral at 71 Acadia Drive, contractor plans to make
connection to the city sewer on Monday 1/5/2015.
 Answered an emergency dig-safe call on New County Road for MaineWater
(broken water main).
 Did scheduled maintenance on the influent bar screen.
 Continued painting of the stairwell and pump rooms in the headworks building.
 Sent spec.’s for the new trailer generator to Power Products for a quote.
 Continued investigation of drainage issues on Limerock Street east of Broadway.
 The Lab did B.O.D. testing for Vinalhaven.
 Did Industrial pre-treatment billing.
 Did F.M.C. testing.
 Typical influent flows were 3 – 3.5 MGD.
 Wet weather caused a CSO event that caused combined influent flows to
exceed 24 MGD.

OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
 City wide receptacle and building trash pickup including roadsides for two days.
 Two crews picking up roadside brush and leaves for three days and one crew for one day.
 Picked up a load of cold patch from Lanes in Bangor.
 A crew patching potholes for four days.
 City sign maintenance work for 1 ½ days.
 Checking brooks, ditches, and catch basins for half a day in preparation of
predicted weekend snow and rain.
 Attended meeting at City Hall regarding Lindsey Brook repair plan at Summer
Street and Union.

OFFICE OF THE SOLID WASTE FACILITY DIRECTOR
 Brush grinding continued this week almost complete.
 A 100 hp motor that powers the transfer station compactor is on it last leg and will need to be removed and rebuilt. The motor is in a very difficult place to service and weighs an estimated 900 pounds. I have contacted several rigging
companies to help remove the motor and coordinate to have it picked up by AC
electric to have the motor rebuilt.
 We installed additional lighting on the DM bulldozer to assist with pushing snow at the snow dump at night.
 Landfill revenue account is tracking favorable this year and we should be very
close to the 50% at the mid budget point.
 Continue preventative maintenance on the transfer station overhead door
motors.
 Picked up the flare from Bath to be used on the extraction well as part of
continued gas management.
 I forwarded the documentation that a member of the public had made at public
comment stating that Europe was outlawing single stream recycling DIRECTIVE
2008/98/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 19 November 2008. Based on the research done by professionals in the solid waste field this was an outright misrepresentation of the facts. The European Union has not outlawed single stream recycling. Just wanted to set the record straight.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE
Officers responded to 184 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to 11 motor vehicle crashes and six animal complaints. Thirty-three (33) traffic stops and traffic violations were conducted. Officers charged or made 13 arrests of individuals for various offenses, to include Bail violations, Traffic Offenses, Warrants, Burglary, Theft, Disorderly Conduct, Drug Violations and OUI.
 Deputy Chief Tower retired from the police department this past week. We know that he leaves us in good shape. Ever since he joined RPD all 27 years ago – He has been a stellar part of this organization and much is owed to him for our
success. I think we all know that it stemmed from his utter commitment to his work and commitment to the common good of the City of Rockland. He has indeed been part of the lifeblood of this organization! This organization will be a much emptier place without him, but it will be an honor to take on the challenges and live up to his high standards.
 We are saying goodbye to Deputy Chief Tower, but this will not be the last we see of him. After all, he’s only retiring and joining the Knox County Sheriff’s office as part of the security detail at the Knox County Airport.
 We would like to wish him all the very best of luck in his future endeavors. And “DC” always remember, if people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fly fishing rods.

OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
 John Root has been on vacation so Dave Kalloch has been very busy fielding
code questions and performing various inspections.
 There were no complaints filed this week.
 The following permits were received by the Code Office this week:
o 4 Building permits
o 4 Electrical permits
o 2 Plumbing permits