The Rockland Report March 20, 2015

OFFICE OF THE HARBORMASTER
 Finished up the last of the mooring permits that were submitted before the “late” date. We will still accept them, but from now on they pay a $30 late fee. We are close to about an 85 to 90% renewal rate
 Spent the last three days in Castine at the Maine Maritime Academy helping to
coordinate the training for the Maine Harbormasters Association. Once again a
great chance to talk to regulators, state and federal government officials and
other harbormasters.
 It was a good chance to talk to the Army Corps of Engineers about the potential for a channel dredging project in the North End. And also a chance to reconnect with the Bangor office of Customs and Border Protection, to discuss clearing customs in Rockland.

OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL FISH PIER DIRECTOR
 No permits were issued this week.
 Received updated cost estimates on the proposed pilings and ladder work.
 Working with ECO-ANALYSTS INC. to provide cost estimates on their part of the proposed dredging project.
 Attended the department head technology meeting.
 Met with a couple of the Lobster Buyers to go over the new boats they have
acquired and the placement of bait coolers on the pier.

OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
 Catinka Knoth’s Adult Drawing class concentrated on St. Patrick’s Day and Celtic designs and the Children’s Art classes drew Spring! themes this week.
 I met with a technician from Hi Tech to review the Library’s existing phone system, which has reached its end-of-life, and received proposals for upgrading the phone and voice mail components.
 The Memoir Writing Workshop was held on Tuesday. This group meets weekly, and is open to anyone who wants to write, share, or just listen.
 Nicholas Theriault from Tilson, a sub-contractor for Maine Fiber met with me to survey the interior of the Library with regard to a fiber connection for the Library, from MSLN (Maine School Library Network). A number of schools and libraries will be upgraded to fiber this summer; MSLN receives funding through Federal e-Rate and Maine Telecommunication Education Access Fund (MTEAF). With no expense to the Library, the bandwidth and internet speed would increase five-fold. Replacing the router and switch would allow even greater speed and bandwidth.
 Along with my fellow department heads, City Manager Chaousis, and Sandy
Billington, I met with Steve Bedell, from Winxnet, regarding technology present in our department, as well as shortfalls and needs.
 Jessie Blanchard prepared a Cornerstones of Science program, held Wednesday afternoon and repeated Saturday morning: What’s In The Trunk?: Get a Clue!, where kids were able to explore a Science Trunk from the COS program, with hands-on activities and games revolving around a different theme each month. With Get a Clue!, participants age 7-12 could solve a crime as they explored the science behind criminal investigations.
 The Library’s new Knox Box arrived, and Public Works staff graciously agreed to install it. Thanks Greg, for making this possible, and Artie Hutchinson, Mason, and Keith Heal for doing the work.
 Judith Andersen was the guest storyteller once again, and many of the books
read had a theme of spring, including Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit, by Sung Na
and And Then It’s Spring, by Julie Fogliano. The craft was squishing homemade
play dough with finger paint colors within a baggie to see the changes in color
and to feel it; children were able to take the results home, and play further.
 Jessie made the weekly trip to the North Haven Community School; she was
particularly looking forward to her first experience at the school, as Jessie had
family from North Haven, and was last on the Island when she was 11.
 Jean Young was invited to present a program to a Homeschoolers of Maine
Convention, a three-day event held at the Samoset. In addition to the
PowerPoint presentation she put together for the event, she was able to re-use
some staff-created tri-folds from previous events, as well. During Jean’s session,
she shared a librarian's commitment to assisting all families, including homeschool families, and provided an overview of services and programs offered by public libraries generally, and discussed the kinds of resources available at one’s library.
 The weekly Rockland Rhythm Masters Drumming Troupe returned this Thursday.
 Thursday afternoon was Creative Crafts with Artist Susan Beebe. This week’s
project was mini-masks, which looked to be created of paper and clay.
 I attending the regularly scheduled March meeting of the Friends of Rockland
Public Library Board.
 The Thursday Evening Arts & Cultural Event was Finding People for Fun & Profit. Donald Saastamoinen has been conducting legal investigations since 1980. In that role, he gathers information for lawyers, but has developed a specialty in the area of finding people. Saastamoinen shared several rules and procedures that he uses in almost every case. Challenging and interesting cases were presented to illustrate these tips.
 Upcoming events of note: Poetry Month Rockland (still a little time to submit your poem for the annual contest--) and Climate Change 2015 Update with Sid
Quarrier: Where are We & Where Might We be Headed?

OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
 The treatment plant has been running good all week.
 Snow melt forced the treatment plant into a C.S.O. event that lasted all week and caused a high C.S.O. flow of over 9 MGD.
 The lab did BOD testing for Vinalhaven.
 The treatment plant processed five trailer loads of sludge this week.
 Cleaned the primary and secondary scum pits.
 Corrected a problem with the DO monitor in aeration tank #2 that was causing it to give inaccurate readings.
 Don Fowles resolved various hardware and programming issues with some of the office computers.
 Two representatives from Woodard & Curran engineering spent a day
programming and correcting problems with the SCADA system and some of the
process instrumentation.
 Protection Professionals installed a new heat detection device in the second floor office for protection of the computers for the plant and pump station SCADA systems.
 Investigated a sink hole near the curb at 87 Park Street with the public works
department that may have been caused by a failed sewer lateral.
 Searched the south end on the west side of South Main Street for the source of
extremely high sewer flows being recorded mornings for the past week at the Park Street pump station.
 Worked on investigation of some of the problems detected during the city wide smoke testing that may be related to city owned sewer and storm water lines.
 Received a call from resident at 9 Cottage Street to report that they are having
problems again with the sewer lateral they share with two neighbors. There is a
project in the planning stages to possibly install a sewer main on Cottage Street to connect these properties separately.

OFFICE OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
 Meetings with representatives of arts and cultural groups to discuss the arts and cultural plan.
 Meeting with representative of Maine Arts Commission for feedback on grant
application.
 Meetings with three businesses to discuss Knox County Microloan and CDBG
Microenterprise applications.
 Discussion with representative of property owner to discuss partnership with the City on the development of a Request for Information to solicit feedback from property developers.
 Meeting to discuss Historic Markers for Harbor Trail.
 Attendance at the Rockland Main Street Economic Restructuring Committee .
 Work on draft public outreach planning for the Camden Street/Park/Payne Form Based Code Project.

OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
 John met with the property manager and the owner of the Thorndike Building to discuss developing a portion of the lower floor.
 John met with a real estate agent and the owners of a property on Samoset Road to discuss creating a Flag Lot.
 John did a final inspection for Certificate of Occupancy on a Bank-owned
property on Old County Road. There were a number of items left unfinished and a letter ordering completion of unfinished work be completed before occupancy
was provided to the bank.
 John met with the City Manager, the Assessor and a representative from CAI to discuss a GIS mapping program that will provide data layers to the other City
Employees and the public.
 Following final inspection with the Fire Chief, a Certificate of Occupancy was
issued for additions at Lowe Hardware at 5 Gordon Drive. This business, which
started in a garage in Owls Head several years ago, has seen outstanding success
manufacturing custom made marine and architectural hardware, with work
orders from all over the world.
 Dave investigated complaints about improper motor vehicle repair work in a
residential zone and after meeting with the owner sent a notice of violation.
 A final inspection was done and a Certificate of Occupancy was issued for a
conversion from a home to an office building at 18 Talbot Avenue.
 John spent most of Wednesday assisting a representative from Winxnet with an assessment of City technology inventory and needs.
 Dave attended the Midcoast Regional Planning Commission Board of Directors meeting on 3/18/15.
 John and Dave attended an MBOIA quarterly membership/training meeting in
Portland on 3/19/15. The meeting provided insight into the nationwide issue of
hoarding, which our office has had to deal with on numerous occasions.
 There was one complaint filed this week.
 The following permits were received by the Code Office this week:
 1 Building permit
 2 Electrical permits

OFFICE OF THE RECREATION DIRECTOR
 This was the last regular season game for the dodge ball league. Next week is the double elimination tournament, the last chance to see the circus in person.
 The next two weekends are our 5th & 6th grade Invitational Basketball Tournaments. The boys play this weekend and the girls play next weekend. There are 8 teams in the boys and 10 teams in the girls. The majority of the time over the next two weeks will be getting ready so these tournaments run smooth. There will be teams from all over the area coming to town. These are very busy weekends but very fun at the same time.
 I have learned about a program that covers the cost of fixtures but not labor. This would change all of the fluorescent bulbs to LED bulbs allowing for a savings to both power used and the amount of bulbs used. I am planning to look into this further to see if it is possible to set up for the next budget year.

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 Thursday and Friday of last week I attended a two day class in Westbrook on
Administrative Investigations and Firefighter disciplinary actions. The program was instructed by a retired Dep. Fire Chief from Providence, RI who is also an attorney in ME and RI. The course work covered all aspects of ensuring that investigations are properly conducted to protect the rights of personnel while determining the truth and minimizing liability to the municipality. The students in the program ranged from Union E-Board members from smaller FD’s to the Fire Chiefs of three large cities in New England.
 CEO Root and I conducted a site inspection at Lowe Hardware in the Industrial Park.
 I attended the City IT meeting Tuesday morning and gained quite a bit of insight into how other departments operate in the digital environment and the similarities and differences we have.
 Lt. Leo scheduled 144 hrs of confined space coverage for FMC in early April. We covered 2 or 3 “routine” entries during the week with on duty staff, which requires the entrants be notified to leave the space whenever we have another call.
 I met with Chief Peaslee from Rockport Fire to discuss Mutual Aid and automatic responses. Rockport and Thomaston are our primary mutual aid partners and typically end up assisting us on every actual structure fire. We are looking at how best to initiate that response to provide more firefighters sooner, while not calling too often. Very often the difference between a reported fire and an actual one cannot be determined until someone arrives and evaluates on average (in Rockland) 5:15 minutes later. The dwindling numbers of “volunteers” in the fire service is causing everyone to call outside aid sooner than ever before. Per safe operating practices established nationwide, we need to have 5-7 personnel on scene before initiating interior firefighting operations (unless an obvious rescue situation is present).
 Lt. Johnson was hospitalized while on vacation in Florida, and will be undergoing further testing back here in Maine to determine the cause of the issue and a course of action. Rick is an integral part of our day to day operations as he serves as both a supervisor on B-Shift and the department’s training officer. We hope for his speedy full recovery.
 Early Wednesday morning we responded to a fire in the trash compactor at Back Cove Yachts. Public Works was requested and quickly brought a large front end loader to facilitate moving the container so we could access the smoldering fire. Without this cooperation we might have waited over two hours for the container trucking company to arrive. Thanks again to PW, it was pretty darn cold and windy that morning!
 I attended the Knox County Regional Communications Center Executive Board and User Group’s meetings on Wednesday afternoon. The user group is made up of personnel from all the departments served by the 911 Dispatch Center and meets to discuss issues relative to the level and quality of services provided. I attend these meeting as Rockland’s representative for both Fire and EMS. I also serve as one of two fire service representatives on the Executive Board who are charged with recommending policy and guidelines for the 911 Center.
 I attended the EMA Directors meeting Thursday evening, which covered grant
money programs for use by local towns and training in the use of online resources during significant incidents or events.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE
Officers responded to 209 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to four motor vehicle crashes and five animal complaints. Thirty (30) traffic stops and traffic violations were conducted. Officers charged or made arrests of 26 individuals for various offenses, to include Warrant of Arrest, Criminal Mischief, Domestic offenses, Bail violations Traffic offenses, Drug Offenses, Trespassing, Obstructing Government Administration and Operating under the Influence.
 Chief Boucher attended Sexual Assault Support Services of Mid-coast Maine’s SASSMM) annual fund raising event on Saturday night at Bowdoin College.
 Chief Boucher attended a memorial dedicated to Detective Sergeant Kenneth
Taylor of the Brunswick Police Department in Brunswick on Friday.
 Officer Shirey and Det. Thompson arrested and charged a suspect with multiple motor vehicle violations of a felonious nature last week.
 Officers have been working with Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents concerning a prohibited person from possessing a firearm in Rockland.
 Officers have been assisting Coast Guard Investigative Services with an ongoing investigation.
 Parking Enforcement officer has been assisting Special Olympics of Maine with the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run fundraising event to be held in Portland next week. We wish to recognize the following business for supporting this effort: Lowe’s, Home Depot, E.L. Spear, the Hampton Inn, Tractor Supply Company, Wal-Mart, Rite–Aid, Applebee’s, Flagship Cinema and the Maine State Prison Showroom store. We thank you and the athletes thank you.
 On Saturday April 25, 2015 the Rockland Police Department in Cooperation with Knox County Sheriff’s Office will be holding a Drug Take Back Event at the Rockland Police Department from 10 AM until 2PM. This will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your medications for disposal to the Rockland Police Department at 1 Police Plaza, Rockland. We are unable to accept needles, inhalers or thermometers. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Accepted for disposal:
o Controlled, non-controlled, and over the counter substances may be
collected.
o Participants may dispose of medication in its original container or by removing
the medication from its container and disposing of it directly into the disposal
box. If an original container is submitted, the individual should be encouraged
to remove any identifying information from the prescription label.
o All solid dosage pharmaceutical product and liquids in consumer containers
may be accepted. Liquid products, such as cough syrup, should remain sealed in their original container. The depositor should ensure that the cap is tightly sealed to prevent leakage.
o Intra-venous solutions, injectables, and syringes will not be accepted due to
potential hazard posed by blood-borne pathogens.

OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES DIRECTOR
 City receptacle and building trash pickup for one day.
 Snow hauling crew consisting of two loaders and three dump trucks hauling
snow from sidewalks, roads, and parking lots for four days.
 Hot box pot hole patching crew worked all week on roads throughout the city.
 Picked up 150 hay bales from Bill Grierson in South Thomaston and placed
around expanded snow dump at Transfer Station to filter runoff.
 Met with Bill Butler, DEP at the Transfer Station for a general discussion regarding operations and did a walk through inspection of the facility.
 Two call-ins on Sunday. Sanding and plowing for two inch storm including
sidewalks.
 Strong winds Monday. Scraping and sanding during regular day mostly related
to drifting snow and completed with sidewalks.
 Picked up mattresses and other debris dumped on side of West Meadow Road
and Thompson Meadow Road.
 Looked at newly constructed salt and sand shed in Nobleboro.
 Attended informational meeting that the Municipal Review Committee
reported on for the future optional plans for MSW disposal as of 2018 when
PERK contract expires.
 A truck load of recycled cardboard, 11 cases of recycled batteries, seven
cases of light bulbs, and five pallets of TV’s were removed from the Transfer
Station.
 Fairpoint repaired downed phone line at back entrance to Transfer Station on
Friday.

LAST CHANCE AT THIS LOW PRICE!
EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Doug Mills newest documentary "Windjammer" on DVD plus "The Great American Windjammer Vol.1" 

200 pages with nearly 100 8x10 photos.

ONLY: $40.00 for the package!