Finished repainting our rental mooring buoys, they are ready to go in once
summer is here.
Worked with the City Manager and the City Attorney on a new lease for Captain Jim Sharp and the Breakwater Kayak Company for the old Sea Scout building.
Watched as Public Works brought their front-end loader down to remove most of the piles of snow blocking the Harbor Park walkways.
Worked with the contractors that are starting on the harbormaster building repairs, they spent most of this week ripping things out, I hope next week they start to put new things back in.
Don Fowles came in and switched over the computer to the new version of
MUNIS, so we've gone back to working on the budget. I met with the Finance
Director to discuss some final budget details.
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.
There is one appeal from Wal-Mart to the State Board that is scheduled for
May 14 & 15.
There are 2 appeals that I am waiting for information. They are, Ocean
State, Trade Winds.
OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
I met with a nearly complete Library Advisory Committee; we are still in process of re-grouping after a long stretch with insufficient membership.
Both Catinka Knoth’s Adult and the Children’s Drawing classes concentrated on a theme of Easter, and the Adult class made cards as well as drawings.
Reference staff member Keith Drago, has initiated a Drop-in Session for Tech Help, on Monday evenings. Whether it’s a laptop or a smart phone, whether you want help setting up email or a Facebook account, for example, you are welcome to drop in from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. for advice.
Seacoast Security performed a site visit, and check of all systems. Happily the
noisy portion was completed before the Library opened to the public. This was
the lengthiest visit I recall by a Seacoast Security tech, and he finished with a list of recommendations. I asked Fire Chief Miceli if he would meet with me to review these, and help prioritize any that he agrees are necessary. He has graciously agreed to assist with this.
AARP Tax Aide free income tax preparation continues on Tuesday and Saturdays, through April 11. Lead volunteer, Jack Kurowski has also met with some clients on additional days. At present all appointment slots have been filled, and there is a waiting list, in case of cancellations.
Patty King and I worked on preparations for participation in the Business Expo at the Samoset next week. The Library, along with some Friends will have a table in the Loft.
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.
Wednesday ushered in Poetry Month Rockland (PMR); I arrived that morning to find that Jessie Blanchard and Mary Jane Martin had been very busy the evening before, decorating the Library in fine poetic form. Between a haiku Poet-tree, the annual opportunity for free-form refrigerator-door poems, and poetry related signs on the ends of book stacks, we look quite festive.
Two PMR events were held on Wednesday,--the first of the weekly fireside readings featured the Shakespeare Society of Rockland reading sonnets, followed midafternoon with the Annual Art Opening, this year celebrating the Life in Rockland Mural Show with preparatory drawings, photo references and photographs documenting last summer's completion of an amazing large-scale mural designed and directed by local talent Alexis Iammarino at the Rockland Rec Center. The mural is entitled Life and History of Rockland which encompasses our love of nature, landscape, food & art, education, resilience, maritime history and diverse industries. Alexis cleverly tied this exhibit (which will be up all month) to this year’s PMR theme: In Air, On Land, At Sea.
Children’s Librarian Jean Young conducted Wednesday Storytime; she began
with the parents, sharing with them the latest Caldecott Medal book, The
Adventures of Beekle: the Unimaginary Friend, by Dan Santat, explaining a little
about the award itself and then the book. Jean also shared the latest holiday
books in the collection, then read to the kids-- Snow Dog, Go Dog, by Deborah
Heiligman, The Easter Egg Farm, by Mary Jane Auch, and Peek-a-Boo, by Janet
and Allan Ahlberg. Afterwards they enjoyed a craft--Bunny Door Hangers,
involving lots of glue…
Public Works’ David Larrabee visited to clear ice from the Library’s propane tanks, check an extremely high location where we need a light bulb changed, and view a cabinet door at the Circulation Desk which needs repair. Artie Hutchinson and Mason borrowed a 12-foot ladder from the Rockland Fire Department to change the bulb. Dave repaired the faulty hinge on the cabinet. We are so very grateful to Public Works and RFD for all they do!
Jean Young made the weekly trip to the North Haven Community School.
I met with the Board of the Friends, who moved their monthly meeting far forward, in advance of some members being out-of-town.
I attended a meeting on the Summer Lunch Program 2015 at RSU 13’s Central
Office.
The weekly Rockland Rhythm Masters Drumming Troupe is on hiatus for an
unspecified time; this actually began last week, which I thought I’d corrected in
that report, but clearly did not.
Thursday afternoon brought Creative Crafts with Artist Susan Beebe. This week’s project was building a tree-house for your teddy bear.
The Thursday Evening Arts & Cultural Event was Sid Quarrier, who, as a retired geologist, follows climate science very closely, discussing Where are We & Where Might We be Headed?, with regard to climate change. Mr. Quarrier discussed current climate science and related topics, including current levels of CO2, the rates of increase, and what this means. He explored the current understanding of the stability of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, studies regarding regional drought, limiting warming to 2° C, and what that means for the future use of fossil fuels and more. Following the presentation, there was time for audience discussion.
On Saturday, we presented a special craft program, Expressing Emotion thru
Drawing, wherein local artist Sue Reed lead a special drawing session for older
children, teens, and adults (Part of The Arts for…Kids & their Families series).
The penultimate session of the Let’s Talk About It book discussion series was held on Saturday morning. The Mirror of Maine: The Maine Community in Myth and Reality book for April was (in honor of Poetry Month Rockland, Twelve Journeys in Maine, by Wes McNair.
Saturday afternoon, Keith Drago held a class entitled eBooks on Tablets. Did you know you can download free eBooks from the Rockland Public Library on your iPad, Android tablet, or smart phone? Participants bringing their tablet were able to download a new book that day. Time for questions was provided at the end of the class.
The Library is closed on Easter Sunday.
Upcoming events of note: A Swarm of Poets: In honor of Poetry Month Rockland and the many events associated with this celebration, we will once again host A Swarm of Poets: an evening of readings by a dozen or more Maine poets, as well readings by the winners of this year’s Poetry Contest. Also, A Musical History of Swan’s Island--Co-sponsored with the Rockland Historical Society, Meghan Vigeant will present a multimedia presentation that documents the tragic fire that destroyed the Swan’s Island Historical Society and her efforts to help recreate that history.
OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
Pollution Control Facility
Treatment plant flows have been high all week; average daily flow through the
plant has been 4 – 5 MGD.
The plant has been in a CSO event due to the weather and continuing snow melt pushing the combined plant flows to over 12 MGD.
Dave St. Laurent and April Thibodeau worked with Janet Abrahamson from Maine Rural Water on evaluation of historical data and reviewing the draft DEP NEPDES permit.
Gathered data and forwarded to Wright-Pierce for the FMC study.
Woodard & Curran worked on resolving issues with the SCADA system and also testing and identifying any issues with the instrumentation.
The lab did BOD /TSS testing for Northhaven and BOD testing for Vinalhaven.
Scheduled and issued a p.o. to Clean Harbors for the removal and lab pack of
various hazardous wastes.
Ordered sodium hypochlorite and bisulfite in preparation for the start of
disinfection during warmer weather.
Worked on preparation for start-up of the chemical pumps and systems.
Met with three engineers from Wright-Pierce to review the capital improvement
program and update the status and discuss projects in progress and planned for
the next year.
Replaced the hydraulic steering cylinder on the gravity belt thickener.
Repaired and installed the roof top ventilation hood for the air exchanger in the headworks building that was blown off during high winds recently.
Environmental Services
Ted Berry Co. began repairs to a sewer manhole in Harbor Park that was
discovered to be the primary cause of sea water that was detected in the sewer
flow through Park Start pump station and the treatment plant. The 24 inch pipe
was separated from the manhole. They were able to seal the opening with
hydraulic cement and begin a series of injections with epoxy grout that will make
the permanent repair. City employees assisted as needed to lessen the expense
of the contractor. They were able to seal approx. 80% - 90% of the leak. They are
scheduled to return on Monday to complete the injections and also address
smaller leaks in two manholes upstream of this. This work can only be when the
tide is low, they have a window of about 1 – 1 ½ hours before and after low tide to complete this work. The remainder will also require by-pass pumping of the sewer. The work already completed has made a tremendous improvement in the
conductivity readings and flows at the treatment plant and Park Street pump
station.
With assistance from the Public Works department the 15 inch emergency sewer overflow pipe on Scott Street (located in manhole #162) was capped.
Worked with employees from O’Hara Corp. on Tillson Avenue to do video
inspections of some of the sewer pipe under their parking lot in the continuing
effort to identify and eliminate all sources of sea water infiltration into the sanitary sewer. Nothing was found in this area.
Ordered new eight inch pneumatic rubber tires for the mainline sewer camera to enable the inspection of corrugated culvert and drain pipes with less chance of
the camera getting caught and having to dig to retrieve it.
Used the sewer jetter/vac truck to clean sewer lines upstream of the Park Street pump station for inspection. Other projects
The Thorndike Parking Lot project resumed this week beginning with the sidewalk on Tillson Avenue that was started before winter.
Notice of Intent was sent to J.B.I. for the contract on the Winter Street project.
Reviewed plans for the proposed sewer extensions on Old County Road, looking at current records we have of the existing sewer in the area to assess any repairs or modification necessary to accept the additional flow onto Cedar and Rankin Streets.
Received a quote from Green Mountain Pipeline Services for pipe lining of 8 inch
and 10 inch sewer pipe. We have 750 ft. of sewer on Purchase Street already
budgeted for lining as a C.I.P. this year. Based on their quote it may be possible to expand on this.
Moving ahead with plans for a sewer main replacement on Laurel Street.
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:
FF Anderson performed two car seat checks and provided and installed one car seat for a family that needed a safe car seat.
A fatal accident in Lincolnville Tuesday evening quickly tied up NEMH units leaving us covering an area from the Thomaston line to the Waldo County line for EMS. Thankfully, we only had to respond to one call out of our normal area before Northeast was back in service.
On Wednesday Northeast was able return the coverage “favor” by responding to Rockland while we dealt with the fire at 21 Maverick Street. Thankfully they were not needed for any calls during the 45-50 minute period we held them. We also received outside aid from Rockport FD, who came to the scene to directly assist, while Thomaston and South Thomaston FD’s stood by at Hannaford for further assistance at the scene or to answer other calls. Rockport and South Thomaston were released in under an hour and Thomaston covered our station for an additional hour while apparatus and equipment was placed back in service. The fire went very well, with damage being stopped very quickly after our timely
arrival. Another 2 to 3 minutes would have significantly changed the situation for
worse. Had we had any fewer than the five available personnel in the station
when the alarm came in, we may have not been as successful, as 10 minutes
passed before the next arriving personnel were on scene. The fire is still under
investigation by the Fire Marshal’s Office and Rockland PD.
I worked with the City Attorney to finalize our bid specification for new thermal imaging equipment. Wednesday’s fire proved the value of these cameras as visibility in the home was non-existent and our first crew, utilizing the TIC was able to confirm the house was unoccupied shortly after arrival. Before these cameras were employed, a similar search would have been conducted completely by “feel” and would have taken multiple crews and 3 to 4 times longer.
Our personnel covered FMC with 80 hours of Confined Space Entry Rescue Team coverage between Monday and Thursday. Due to numerous projects at their facility, our personnel will conduct over 400 “man hours” of detail coverage in April. FMC covers the direct costs of this service.
I continued to work with the Code Office on the proposed transient lodging issue, hopefully clarifying some of the details from the Life Safety Code.
I’m happy to report Lt. Johnson is home recovering from his heart valve surgery and anticipates a full return in a few months. It wasn’t too many years ago that surgery like this was typically career ending for our profession, but today the surgeons are confident enough to put no restrictions on those who follow proper recovery protocol.
OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES DIRECTOR
Returned rental sidewalk plow to Bangor.
Cold patched for five days.
Picked up truck 8 in Westbrook and had truck 17 towed to Westbrook.
Two days of tree cutting/brush pick-up at Public Landing, Cedar Street, West
Meadow Road.
City-wide trash pick-up two days.
Repaired lights, desk, gas inlet at Public Library.
Road sweeping four and a half days.
Sidewalk sweeping two and a half days.
Helped repair pipe at Sandy Beach, one day.
Meeting at Bolduc Correctional Facility.
Crosswalk sign repair by Dairy Queen on Union Street.
Sign repair, four and a half days.
Mechanical: #18 sweeper – removed head, prep for summer sidewalk sweeper; #14 rear brakes, leaf spring, left rear maintenance, hose on #13 backhoe. Solid Waste Facility
Signage at the recycling building, hot load area and Wink’s Place.
35 bales of newspaper sent out.
Valley Equipment checked out motor on compactor. It’s okay.
Quarterly tonnage reports sent out.
OFFICE OF THE FINANCE DIRECTOR
Approved Payroll Warrant.
Met with Department Heads on FY16 Budget.
Worked on FY16 Budget.
FY14 Audit Complete – waiting for report.
Worked on Solid Waste calculations for MSW sticker and tonnage fees.
Attended Workshop on Solid Waste fees.
OFFICE OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Research and preparation for a number of different grants including Community Development Block Grants (Downtown Revitalization and Microenterprise Assistance), Maine Coastal Program Grants, Recreation Trails Program Grant, Boating Facilities Fund.
Development of outreach and educational material for Camden Street Master
Plan implementation, specifically Camden Street Form Based Code project.
Meeting with Department of Labor representative to talk about available
resources for businesses in Rockland.
Meetings with two property owners to discuss participation in Rockland’s
Brownfields Program.
Meeting with Rockport Town Manager and Town Planner to discuss
commencement of regional high speed internet planning study.
Meeting with URock Director to tour the facility and discuss opportunities for
partnership.
OFFICE OF THE RECREATION DIRECTOR
Two very busy weekends, long hours and many people through the doors of the Recreation Building and our Invitational Tournaments have come to a close for another year. Benjie Blake did a great job setting up and running this event. The best part was the parents of our local teams having fun and spending the
weekend with us. The Girls team parents really took it to the max and made the
most of the time here, lots of fun. The girls are also the 2015 Rockland Recreation Department Tournament Champions!!!!
Have spent most of the week putting the building back together after all the
activity. I have also been starting a list of what will need to be done as spring is
going to be here fast.
The Coast Guard City Signs will all be in place by the end of the day Friday. They look great and are now at all three of the Welcome to Rockland signs.
OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
John met with the owner of Johnson’s Sporting Goods to discuss selling pre-fab sheds on the property adjacent to the store.
John performed inspections on three properties recently acquired by the City due to tax liens.
John and Dave spent time working on tweaking an ordinance proposal for the
City Council regarding transient housing. A memo to the Council was prepared.
Dave researched state and local off-premises sign regulations to assist the City
Attorney with an ordinance amendment allowing off-premises signs and banners
for approved festivals. He & John then reviewed and commented on the
proposal.
John met with the City Manager and Joe LaBranche to discuss his progress on GIS network mapping of the City sanding route.
Dave did three final inspections and issued certificates of occupancy for two of these projects.
John met with a local architect to discuss renovations to the Penobscot School on Gay Street.
As a member of the task force, John took part in an ortho-imagery webinar on
4/2/15.
There were two complaints filed this week.
The following permits were received by the Code Office this week:
o 2 Building permits
o 1 Electrical permit
o 1 Plumbing permit
o 1 Street Encumbrance permit
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE
Officers responded to 243 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to seven motor vehicle crashes and six animal complaints. Forty-seven (47) traffic stops and traffic violations were conducted. Forty-five (45) parking violations were issued. Officers charged or made arrests of 23 individuals for various offenses, to include Warrants of Arrest, Assault, Bail violations, Probation Violations, Traffic offenses, Drug Offenses, and Operating under the Influence.
Chief Boucher and Deputy Chief Young met with members of Maine Behavioral Healthcare on Union Street to continue with an effort to assess the current relationship between the Rockland mobile crisis team and police. Explored opportunities for improving CIT training interest.
Rockland PD and National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) hosted a Mid Coast CIT this past week at City Hall. The week long training was attended by area Law Enforcement personnel to assist in providing service to those in crisis concerning mental health issues.
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