The Rockland Report January 23, 2015

OFFICE OF THE FINANCE DIRECTOR
 Approved Payroll Warrant.
 Attended Special Council Meeting and Workshops on CEA Agreement, Camden Street Conceptual Designs and Harbor Park.
 Met with Staff to develop revisions to CEA and Camden Street Conceptual
Designs.
 Completed upgrade of Munis Software.
 Spoke with Key Bank Facilities Department on their parking lot storm water lines and connecting into new line on Winter Street.
 Awarded #2 Fuel Oil Contract to Maritime Energy for the FY16 Budget.
 Tillson Avenue sidewalk work has begun.

OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL FISH PIER DIRECTOR
 The following permits were issued this week.
o 1 lobster vessel
 Submitted PO’s to Finance Department for payment.
 Removed traps and debris from public floats.
 Organized pallets and barrels into groups.

OFFICE OF THE HARBORMASTER
 Processing more mooring permits, we're about 20% towards our budget goal, but the due date isn't until March 15th.
 Sent out annual Maine submerged lands lease paperwork with our lease fee for
the Middle Pier.
 Met with the U Maine students to discuss their progress on the Public Landing
design.
 In conversations with the Maine Windjammer Association to act as a host for the
fleet of windjammers at the end of their annual race. It would be great to see if
we can get upwards of twenty schooners at the town docks on July 3rd.
 Met with the Harbor Management Commission and discussed the new Food
Wagon, Container ordinance amendment. They support most of the new design
standards, though they don't feel that the wagons in Buoy Park would also need
to go through the planning board approval process. They feel that increased
enforcement by the City's code office would be a good idea.

OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
 Catinka Knoth’s Children’s Art Class drew arctic animals; due to the Martin Luther
King, Jr. holiday, no Adult class was held.
 Patty King continued training new part-time, on-call/substitute library assistant, Melissa Bryan, who will be scheduled when the Library’s regular part-time staff are unavailable.
 The Memoir Writing group met on Tuesday; this is open to all. Bring your own work to read, or just listen.
 Wednesday Storytimes this month all have snow as the central theme. Jean
Young read one of the Library’s new books, which features poetry and incredible
photos, Raindrops Roll, by April Pulley Sayre, followed by three snowman books, Snowie Rolie, by William Joyce, 100 Snowmen, (a math book in disguise) by Jen Arena, and then a nonfiction book Snowmen, by Peter Cole (a workbook on the variety of snowmen and other snow creatures with instructions). The Storytime craft was foam pieces which when put together made a reclining snowman, with the caption “Love to Read.”
 The weekly Rockland Rhythm Masters Drumming Troupe was cancelled due to illness.
 Patty King and I met with the co-president and another member of the Friends’ board about the upcoming Open House. Patty and I developed this year’s poster for the event. This year’s Open House is shaping up to be even bigger and better than the first one
 The film, Babette’s Feast was presented as the Thursday Evening Arts & Cultural Event; there was a nice article on Village Soup regarding presenter, Erika Pfander, and the new monthly series, Pfander’s Favorite Films:
http://knox.villagesoup.com/p/the-midcoast-s-movie-maven/1292103
 I submitted the minutes for last week’s video meeting of the Northern Maine
Library District Executive Board.
 Children’s Librarian Jean Young hosted the weekly Baby Storytime, and Saturday Storytime. The planned program, Medomak Valley Players’ Storybook Theater: Cows Don’t Fly– and other known facts was postponed due to the anticipation of snow and concern over the transportation of the troupe. This will be rescheduled.
 Upcoming: Documentaries & Discussion: Introduction to Beekeeping-, and the Second Annual Library Open House, a valentine to the Community—yummy food, fun events, prizes, and more! Mark your calendars for Friday, February 13th, and please plan to attend.

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:
 Monday’s fire at the Thorndike proved yet again, the value of sprinkler systems. While our personnel are very motivated and well trained, no FD can have a nozzle in the right place as quick as a sprinkler system. In this case without a fully functioning sprinkler system the fire in the void between floors would have quickly spread to a very large area and multiple floors, the results of which would likely have been tragic. While this is a “W” in the win column, we share this victory with the Council, the Code Office and the people of the City who help ensure there is an inspection program and adopted codes that ensure these safety measures are in place. We’re also fortunate that the current owner has been working to bring upgrades to the building. Monday afternoon the working fire alarm and sprinkler systems together ensured there were no injuries and minimized damage.
 On Tuesday morning I worked with the Fire Marshal’s Office investigator on the origin and cause determination of the Thorndike Fire. We came to the same
conclusion our FD investigation revealed Monday night, that the fire was
accidental in nature, caused by “hot work” being performed on the adjacent
roof.
 Tuesday afternoon I attended the Maine Fire Sprinkler Coalition meeting. This
newly formed group will be endeavoring to educate Mainer’s about the benefits
of sprinklers as a whole, and in particular Home Fire Sprinklers.
 Wednesday evening A/C Elwell and I attended the Knox County Mutual Aid
Association’s annual meeting. This group of chief officers from throughout the
county work to ensure we all assist each other as no FD’s in the area (or the State
really) can face every incident on their own.

OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
 Worked with David St. Laurent to familiarize him with plant operations.
 Contacted Neuros Turbo Blower representative to assist with a vibration issue in aeration blower #2.
 Revised FMC Industrial User Permit and sent to D.E.P. for review.
 Forwarded the CSO Annual progress report to Wright-Pierce to assist with
populating some of the data to ensure data consistency.
 Completed video inspection of 1600 ft. of sewer main on Limerock Street (from Claremont to Highland). The sewer main west of Broadway is in poor condition and a proposal will be put together to address it. The majority of issues in the sewer east of Broadway appear to be with the sewer laterals and these should be inspected.
 Established a protocol to begin conductivity testing in areas along the waterfront to locate possible problems with saltwater intrusion in the sewer.
 Continued painting of the interior of the headworks building.
 Pumped and cleaned the vortex separator and CSO contact chamber.
 Replaced the #2 filter press feed pump grinder.
 Made repairs to the polymer pump for the secondary clarifiers.
 Added a trap to the floor drain for the floor in the 2nd floor restroom.
 Received order confirmation for the new backup trailer generator for the pump
stations. Estimated delivery is 3-4 weeks.
 The lab did BOD & TSS testing for Northhaven.
 BOD testing for Vinalhaven.
 FMC testing.
 The treatment plant was in a CSO event from Sunday to late Monday caused by the warm weather and snow melt. The plant flows went from 3 MGD to a peak of 10.73 MGD.

OFFICE OF THE SOLID WASTE DIRECTOR
 Performed wastewater sampling & mailed out to be tested.
 Bulldozer broken fuel line ordered and replaced.
 Tire pile hauled off by Bobs Tire Co. from Massachusetts. Reducing the size to less than 625sf per DEP requirements and checking that base gravel pad is proper depth.
 Repaired and relocated stop sign at exit to Limerock Street.
 Notified electrician to coordinate removing and refurbishing motor for trash
compactor. Located lift to remove motor.
 Shipped out 19 bales of tin cans for recycling through MRRA.

OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
 Receptacle and building trash pickup for two days. One day picking up roadside trash.
 Training personnel on new rental sidewalk plow.
 Attended sand/salt workshop in Damariscotta from Maine Local Roads.
 Tree/limb trimming work on West Meadow Road for two days.
 Sign maintenance and training for four days. Included repairing wooden deck on sidewalk in front of Boat Apprentice shop on Main St.
 Cold patching city streets for two days.
 Crew addressing ice issues on several roads and culverts for a day.
 Assisted with flagging on Limerock St. for sewer tech. team.
 Repaired a catch basin frame on Thomaston Street.
 Washing down trucks and equipment.
 Preparing for potential snow storm due to hit on Saturday.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE
 Officers responded to 151 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to
seven motor vehicle crashes and three animal complaints. Twenty-eight (28)
traffic stops and traffic violations were conducted. Officers charged or made two
arrests of individuals for various offenses, to include Warrant of Arrest and OUI.
From Maine Identity Services, LLC
 We’ve received an alert about a new scam that we haven’t run across before
and I thought you might want this information:
 (A leading insurance company) in the last eight months has received many
complaints where individuals are representing employees of insurance companies where they inform the individual (Victim) that their recently deceased family member had a life insurance policy and that the policy had lapsed for nonpayment of premiums; however, if they would immediately pay money today
then the policy would be reinstated and the life proceeds would be paid directly
to them. There have been different amounts used; however, in many cases they
were asked to send 5- five hundred dollar money cards (Green Dot Cards) in
order to reinstate this alleged policy. The telephone numbers used to perpetrate
these scams originated out of the State of Alabama. The Georgia Department of
Insurance is involved in several of these complaints.

OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
 John met with two representatives from CMCA to discuss temporary locations for shipping containers that would be used for art exhibitions to promote the new
CMCA Contemporary Art Center.
 John and David attended the MBOIA Membership Training Meeting 1/22/15 in South Portland. The topic of the training was “Medical Marijuana Regulations and What the Code Official Needs to Know Regarding Zoning and Buildings”.
 There were no complaints filed this week.
 The following permits were received by the Code Office this week:
o 1 Building permit
o 2 Electrical permits
o 2 Plumbing permits

OFFICE OF THE RECREATION DIRECTOR
 The floor in the game room by the TV game area is down and complete and looks very nice. I checked the Maine surplus warehouse and they do not have any furniture at this time. I will be looking for new ways to complete this area.
 The playoffs are on the horizon as the regular season of the 5th and 6th grade
league is almost in the books after this weekend.
 Habitat for Humanity dropped off a plaque to recognize and thank us for our
support of their program. They have groups that come to the area every summer
to build houses for families in this area.
 The hot water has been corrected and we have not had any problems with it
kicking out since. This sounds like a small thing, but it’s a big relief for us and the people that use the building.

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