The Rockland Report May 1, 2015

OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
 Worked on the Union negotiation proposal.
 Worked on the development issue.
 Worked on the Maine Lighthouse Museum issue.
 Worked on the budget alternatives for Council.
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 two appeals that I am reviewing the information that was
provided. They are, Ocean State, Trade Winds.

OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL FISH PIER DIRECTOR
 One user permit was issued this week.
 Picking up trash stuck in fence line around parking lot.
 Met with the Recreational Director and they were volunteering their services to clean up areas throughout the city this summer. The REC Department will clean the fence line of trees and thistle growing through fence in storage lot.
 Fred Beal’s Surveying Co. has set up the bench marks on land. ECO-ANALYSTS INC. and Fred Beal Surveying Co. will commence taking soundings around the pier starting next week.
 Still working with Somatex Crane Services and Prock Marine on engineering of bases on the free standing jib hoists estimates.
 Searching all avenues of disposing of dredge material removed from around pier. Options are dumping at sea and at the solid waste facility depending on
outcome of the soil tests that will be required.

OFFICE OF THE HARBORMASTER
 Another week spent mostly working on rebuilding and repairing floats, with lots of people coming in to discuss moorings.
 I attended a meeting in Portland with the USCG and other responding agencies
about search and rescue procedures on the Maine coast.
 The assistant harbormaster returned to start work for the summer, there's a lot to do if we are going to get floats in by the 15th of May.
 Started the work of taking the new floats from the state to join with our current
floats at Snow Marine Park.

OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
 I met with the Library Advisory Committee.
 Artie Hutchinson and Mason Shane from Public Services removed the Library’s bike rack for repair, and fixed the lower fire door, which had not been closing properly.
 Catinka Knoth’s Adult Drawing class this week concentrated on spring flowers, tulips and daffodils; the Children’s Drawing theme was “Let's Draw April Awakenings!": Spring Peepers, Bird’s Nests, Spring Flowers.
 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.
 Judith Andersen returned as guest presenter of Wednesday. Miss Judy and
Children’s Librarian Jean Young went racing when the first little story patron’s
grandma mentioned he loved, tractors! So among many other stories Miss Judy
read were Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? by Brianna Caplan Sayres, Down by the Barn, by Will Hillenbrand, and Dig Dig Digging, by Margaret Mayo. For the craft, of course, the participants colored tractors.
 Let’s hear it from our teachers! The finale of Fireside Poetry was the talented
teachers, staff and colleagues presenting poems they wrote and poems they
love. Refreshments were provided by Friends of the Rockland Public Library.
 Jean Young was the Library’s representative at the Summer Youth Activities Fair hosted by the Rec Center. Jean had a chance to network with other presenters, as well.
 I submitted the final report for the Carnegie-Whitney Grant to the American
Library Association. Even though we did not yet meet the goal we set, the grant
administrator was pleased. We intend to continue to increase the number of
BookTalks on the website .
 Keith Drago and I attended the Tri-district Council Meeting and Program; in
addition to the business meeting portion for all three districts (I serve on the
Executive Board of our [Northeastern Maine] district), Nancy Pearl, internationally renowned librarian, and famous for her Readers’ Advisory skills presented a wonderful program on that topic. In the afternoon, Maxine Bleiweis, Director of the Westport Connecticut Library’s program was entitled, Being Innovative on a Shoestring: Really?? Between programs, and networking with colleagues from across the State, it was a very worthwhile event.
 Jean Young made the weekly trip to North Haven Community School Library.
 Patty King represented the Library at the City Safety Committee meeting.
 The Thursday Evening Arts and Cultural Event was the final event for PMR. Poetry Celebration: A Swarm of Poets. In honor of Poetry Month Rockland and the many events associated with this celebration, we hosted the annual event, which was an evening of readings by a dozen or more Maine poets, as well readings by the winners of this year’s Poetry Contest. Jessie Blanchard and Mary Jane Martin did an excellent job co-chairing and working on the many programs, events, poetry judging, and publicity for the month-long Poetry Month Rockland.
 Patty King took part in the Love My Library show, on WRFR, a monthly program with presenters from local libraries speaking on upcoming programs and events in their respective libraries.
 On Saturday, we presented another special craft program, Fresh Flower Arranging with Baskets, part of The Arts...for Kids and their Families at Rockland Public Library, with Laurie the Flower Goddess, Thomaston for all ages and with all materials provided.
 Saturday was also the final presentation of the Maine Humanities Council grant for the Let’s Talk About It book discussion series. We are looking at ways to use this as a model for additional series.
 Also on Saturday, Keith presented iPad Basics. This is an introductory course on how to use an iPad. Participants learned about the basic controls, navigation,
and settings of the iPad and were urged to bring their own iPad for this class.
 Upcoming events—Don’t forget we have drop-in Tech Help Monday evenings (or make an appointment for another time); an Author Talk: Ken Textor: The Hidden Coast of Maine.

OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
Pollution Control Facility
 Treatment plant is running good this week.
 There were no CSO events and the average plant flows were 3 MGD.
 The lab did BOD testing for Vinalhaven.
 An electronic automatic sampler was set up to sample the influent from FMC.
 Continued some adjustment and fine tuning of the instrumentation and controls for the chemical systems in preparation for startup in May.
 Replaced the drive motor on #1 belt filter press.
 Checked and repaired #2 R.A.S. pump gearbox
 Changed the backpressure valve for the CSO sodium hypochlorite system
 Removed #1 pump @ Glenwood Ave pump station and sent to A.C. Electric to have the motor rebuilt. Environmental Services
 Cleaned and inspected 275 ft. of sewer main from Winter St. to Commercial St. and into the parking lot of the Landings restaurant. This sewer main is an old clay pipeline and in poor condition.
 Dye tested the sewer lines from 25 Dunton Ave. and confirmed that this property is connected to the city sewer system.
 Met with the owner of 77 Crescent St. to inspect the sewer lateral to determine
replacement would be required if a new home is built on the property. The sewer
cleanout was not accessible and the inspection could not be done.
 Cleaned, inspected, and mapped 2400 ft. of sewer main on Cedar Street. This
pipeline has now been inspected from Old County Rd. to Broadway.
Other Projects: Thorndike Parking Lot
 All underground conduits for the new lighting have been installed.
 CMP has disconnected power to the existing light poles.
 The brick pavers and granite posts in Glovers Passage have been completed
 Work has started on the seating wall and granite planter in the northeast corner
near the stairway.
 Loam has been spread in the area along the rear of the Main St. buildings and
behind the public restroom and is ready to be seeded. Winter Street
 Work in the area of Winter St. and Park Drive is almost completed. 4 storm drain basins have been installed, 1 existing basin has been disconnected to be
removed, and the connection is done to the discharge manhole across Park
Drive.
 All necessary easements have been signed, the last being for the utility pole
relocation on the Trade Winds property.
 Cleanup of this area is being completed in preparation to continue along Winter St. Summer Street
 The contractor mobilized and had materials delivered Monday and Tuesday.
 The storm drain connection to the existing box culvert is completed and 80 ft. of pipe has been installed.
 The connection to the existing sewer manhole is completed and 20 ft. of sewer
main has been installed.

OFFICE OF THE FIRE CHIEF
In addition to the general response to 33 fire and EMS calls, conducting apparatus checks, daily cleaning, routine repairs and maintenance to the fleet and of the quarters, the following occurred: Training: This week EMS training took center stage.
 We hosted a class on Interosseous IV establishment, literally drilling into bone to provide a route for fluid therapy and medications. While not our first choice, this route is used frequently for those really sick people who have poor vascular
access and need immediate treatment.
 I attended the Maine EMS Protocol Update “roll-out” at PBMC, which addressed significant changes in spinal immobilization, and updates to pediatric care and opiate overdose treatment. All EMS personnel will be required to update on these topics before July 1st.
 Paramedics Planeta, Mullane and I attended an “EMS Billing in the Digital Age” seminar on Thursday. This class highlighted “best practices” to ensure the highest return rates for billable EMS calls as well as a peek into prospective changes to the Medicare rules affecting our service.
 On Friday morning I attended a class for gas installers put on by the Maine Gas and Fuel Oil Board. This program covered changes in the Code and commonly seen issues with propane and natural gas service, delivery and installations. Confined Space Rescue Coverage:
 This week FD personnel provided 100 hrs of confined space detail coverage for FMC between Monday and Friday. We learned this week that they will be looking at another month’s worth of 80-100/week coverage beginning in mid-May. Notable:
 The Maine Lobster Festival committee hosted Dep. Chief Young, Sgt. Finnegan, EMA Director Sisk, and myself Tuesday evening so we could go over the Emergency Plan for their Event and our expectations of their volunteers in various emergencies.

OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES DIRECTOR
 Trash pick-up City-wide.
 Repaired damaged lawns.
 Cleaned parks and City Hall property.
 Cold patching roads.
 Bike rack, door and bench repairs at the library.
 Basin repair, Cedar Street and Birch Street – culvert replacement.
 Trash can repair and replacement.
 Swept streets and sidewalks.
 Swept school parking lots.
 Landfill clean up, picked paper and basement clean up. Pull pump, Limerock
Street end.
 Graded Thompson Road and Dunbar Road.
 Maintenance work at landfill.
 Put floats in at Chickawaukie.
 Mechanical work: took headgear and sanders off trucks to be ready for summer,
brakes on #31, six tires on #18 sweeper, bearing on #29 sweeper, new broom on
sidewalk sweeper, lights on trailer.

OFFICE OF THE RECREATION DIRECTOR
 Thanks to Public Services for the help with getting parks ready to be mowed. They have been working with a Recreation Staff person to sweep leaves and sand out of the parks so they are clean and promoting grass growth early in the season.
 Kiwanis Rockland will be working at the Warren Street Playground Saturday
morning to spread new wood chips and to clean up the grounds.
 The floats and docks are overboard at Johnson Memorial Park and I am working on adding a new used section of dock to the boat launch area.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE
Officers responded to 235 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to 6 motor vehicle crashes and 3 animal complaints. Fifty-four (54) traffic stops and traffic violations were conducted. Forty-seven (38) parking violations were issued. Officers charged or made arrests of 16 individuals for various offenses, to include Trespassing, Warrants of Arrest, Bail violations, Traffic offenses, Alcohol Offenses, Drug Offenses, Tobacco offenses and Operating under the Influence.
 D/C Young attended Employment Labor Law training through MMA.
 Sgt. Finnegan and Deputy Chief Young in coordination with Rockland Fire / EMS, conducted mini-table top exercises as part of the emergency preparedness plan for the Maine Lobster Festival Board of Directors.
 Officers are working on a federal grant for the replacement of bulletproof vests hoping to have that completed by next week.
 Sgt. Finnegan presented at Maine’s first Impaired Driving Summit, in which a
Rockland P.D. OUI Drug case was presented as a model for OUI drug
investigations.
 Sgt. Finnegan presented a training class for the First Bank on recognizing impaired employees.
 Sgt. Smith presented to the 2015 New England Symposium for Emergency Room Nurses on what Accident Reconstructionists do and how nurses can assist in their investigation.
 Detectives assisted Camden P.D. C.I.D. with preparing a search warrant.
 Conducted a security detail with Federal Marshall’s at the ferry terminal.
 Detectives worked with the FBI regarding an ongoing fraud ring that is working up and down the eastern seaboard to include Rockland.
 Bicycle Patrol has been activated and when weather and staffing permits, officers assigned to the bicycle patrol are being deployed.
 Officer Bagley will be leaving next week to attend his fifth Law Enforcement
Memorial bicycle ride to the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington D.C. This ride is done to recognize the law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty this year.
 The Department’s grant funded OUI Enforcement patrols have been
implemented.

OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
 The Code Office issued permits for renovations/alterations at the former Goodwill Store at Harbor Plaza. Olympia Sports will move from their current location to the larger space in the same plaza.
 Dave Kalloch and John Dutcher and his crew did a dye test for 25 Dunton
Avenue.
 John met with the owner of 77 Crescent Street to discuss demolition of the house on that property.
 License inspections were done at Primo’s Restaurant, Café Miranda, The
Navigator and Pho Sizzle.
 Dave attended the Mid Coast Regional Planning Commissions Spring meeting at the Union Town Hall on 4/29/15.
 There were three complaints filed this week.
 The following permits were received by the Code Office this week:
o 11 Building permits
o 4 Electrical permits
o 3 Plumbing permits
o 1 Sign permit
o 3 Street Excavation permits

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