DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Thank you to the City Council for agreeing to schedule a workshop on Wednesday the
27th to discuss priorities for capital projects in anticipation of a bond question for this November. I’ve had a few questions from the media about this workshop so I thought it would be good to clarify that the purpose of this workshop will be to determine whether or not the Council would like to try and have a bond question prepared for November and if so what are the projects that will be part of the bond and the amount.
I met with Tourmaline today to discuss the launch of the new website and we’ve agreed that public launch date will be September 12th. On August 22nd the site will be live for City staff to do testing and training. There is going to be additional functionality above and beyond what we originally anticipated including an extra-net and issues reporting system.
Dave St. Laurent and I are currently working with Ecomaine to negotiate MSW and recycling contracts. These will be brought before the Council for final approval.
I’ve been working on RFP’s for a number of goods and services. I’m trying to work with Department Heads to coordinate these efforts across Departments whenever possible to try and get the best value possible.
They Mayor, Chief Boucher, Chief Whytock and myself have been invited by the Navy to attend a briefing for the USS Oak Hill on August 3rd at 8:30am. Everyone from the City is looking forward to working with the Lobster Festival to welcome the Navy to Rockland for their yearly visit.
OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
Response to Dale Hayward’s comments to council: In response to an initial complaint (#C16-95) received by the Code Office on March 9, 2016, Bill has conducted compliance inspections on March 16, 2016; May 19, 2016; and July 7, 2016. The result of the inspections and supplemental investigative information showed that the Haywards were operating a business in a residential zone, a prohibited activity. This also violates the requirements of the 2012 consent order (#CV-12-084). A notice of violation dated July 12, 2016, was sent out to the Haywards listing the violations and requested corrective actions. A follow-up inspection with the Haywards will occur between July 26th and August 12th. In addition to the Haywards and routine complaint investigations and follow-ups, Bill is working on nine additional enforcement cases. Most of the cases, hopefully, will be resolved without the need for litigation.
John attended the City Council Meeting on Monday evening as well as a Planning Board Meeting on Tuesday evening. A 1,248 square foot residential greenhouse on Old County Road was approved by the Planning Board.
John and Bill attended MBOIA Membership Training Meeting on Thursday in Augusta.
Bill performed a renewal victualer’s license inspection.
Bill did another walk down Main Street noting multiple low flags and unpermitted sidewalk displays.
John has begun working on drafting the Short-Term Rental permit application.
We issued three residential building permits this week for a change of use from two-unit to a single-family dwelling, a pergola, and a deck.
Six complaints were filed this week. Two regarding signs, two regarding overgrown grass, one regarding trash, and one regarding food safety. We continue to follow up and work on complaint issues within the City, including follow up inspections at several locations and sending out two overgrown grass notices.
We continue to be busy with various other permits, inspections, and assisting the public with questions. The following permits were issued by the Code Office this week:
3 Building Permits
1 Electrical Permit
2 Plumbing Permits
2 Sidewalk Display Permits
1 Sidewalk Tables & Chairs Permit
OFFICE OF THE FIRE CHIEF
Over the preceding week, in addition to the response to 49 Fire and EMS calls, shift training, conducting apparatus checks, daily cleaning, routine repairs and maintenance to the fleet and of the quarters, the following occurred:
The North Atlantic Blues Festival kicked off over the past weekend and appeared to be another successful event. The festival generated a few minor calls for us but, as always, was well attended with little hassle for public safety. We look forward to next year.
They duty shift as well as Chief Whytock responded for a mutual aid fire to the town of Owls Head. Both towns worked together to stop any further damage to the house and cleared about two hours after the call.
All three of our fire apparatus that carry water were sent to Reliance Equipment in Vassalboro for their annual pump test and inspections. All three apparatus passed their inspections within the parameters allowed. E-2 will need some break work done and is scheduled for next week.
Training this week was focused again on forcible entry and ventilating peak roofs. The tactic of cutting a hole in the roof is to relieve built up heated gasses and smoke for the firefighters and any trapped occupants within the structure. Vertical ventilation ( cutting holes in roofs) isn’t needed unless the fire is on the top floor or within the attic space. The training was attended by Rockland Fire members as well as our mutual aid partners from Owls Head, South Thomaston, and Rockport Fire.
EMT-P William (BILL) Pendleton started his first day of full time employment for the City. Bill has been a member of our call division for almost two years and was promoted to the full time ranks this past week. A brief ceremony was held for Bill and his father was present to pin the badge on Bills uniform. It was a great way to start out a career in the fire/ems service. We wish Bill the best of luck in his new career.
Chief Whytock and Assistant Chief Miceli attended the Knox County Mutual Aid Meeting in Washington. We are focusing our efforts on accountability and common Standard Operating Procedures.
OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES DIRECTOR
Continued roadway, cross walk and parking lot painting.
Picked up barricades from Blues Festival.
Collected water samples at Sandy Beach.
Water trees and flowers.
Picked up trash City Wide
Repaired sink hole on Waldo Avenue.
The Rockland District Nurses glass entrance door at the Recreation Building was damaged the insurance company was contacted and a repair estimate done.
Started planning for the installation of the next section of the Q2N extraction well and pump preventative maintenance.
Clean up around garage.
Picked up load of cold patch.
Finished fabricating awnings for recycle building now only installation is remaining.
Reviewed all intersections at Union and Main Street. A complete reconstruction of the tip downs, and pedestrian crossing signals was completed and a corrective action plan in now in place. The pedestrian buttons were checked by an electrician and 3 were found to be non-operational, these buttons will be replaced. The abandoned telephone pole on the south east corner of the union and main intersection was removed with the assistance of CMP in conjunction of the Rockland Public Services crew, the area was then prepped for
pavement. Continued work on this intersection will be ongoing.
Replaced damaged window glass in the D5M bulldozer.
Volunteers from Casella Waste donated 7 trees to the Farnsworth as well as assisted with cleaning up the stockpile of trash at 8 Rockland street. The 20 volunteers did an amazing job and the assistance was much appreciated, the volunteer group collected by hand about one ton of trash and 3 tons of scrap metal at the 8 Rockland Street location.. Casella was in the area as part of their yearly company retreat and wanted to volunteer to assist the community.
Catch Basins were ordered for the upcoming Shaw stormwater reconstruction project.
Continued street sweeping.
86 total individual storm water basin have been emptied and cleaned.
Roadside and landfill trash pickup.
Roadside mowing was performed
The recycle building roof was stripped and shingled and the area in front of the recycle building collection area was repaved to improve the walking surface for the public.
Paving on various basin and road work was completed.
Unload and inventory the second load of downtown light poles.
Continued work on the Time Force time accounting system the time clock data base was almost complete and close to being functional.
Old County Road:
The stormwater line crossing Rte 17 was inspected and found to be in good enough condition to tie into.
Fairpoint meeting with Simon Throne to review the last remaining setback holding up final utility transfer. Simon’s assistance was greatly appreciated and with his help we should stay on schedule and finish strong on this project.
Sanitary Sewer component in 100% complete including laterals.
Loaming and finish work continues.
Route 17 turning lane work continues, next week we will expect to have some additional emphasis on traffic control on Rte. 17 due to a more in-depth part of the intersection will be undertaken.
The eleventh weekly construction meeting was held Thursday 7/21/16. We are continue to be on target for all tasks outlined with the master schedule. Estimated job completion date is August 15th.
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE
D/C Young –
Oversaw the closing of Main St. for the annual Blues Festival Pub Crawl. There were no problems during this event. It was a great crowd with lots of great music and festivities.
Attended a stakeholders meeting at City Hall regarding the opiate crisis in Knox County.
Continued the process of the 2016 RPD Policy Manual update and review.
Posted the open Patrol Officer position and opened the application process.
Continued ongoing support and coordination with the USS Oak Hill for their anticipated arrival for the MLF.
Met with representatives from the Knox County District Attorney’s Office in order to ensure continuing cooperation between the two agencies toward the common goal of proficient prosecution of criminal cases.
Completed quarterly C.I.T. report.
Criminal Investigations Division –
Coordinated with the Attorney General’s Office regarding a joint criminal investigation in Rockland.
Det. Neal attended specialized training identifying the sexual predator and physical abuser.
Coordinated with the IRS and NOAA regarding an ongoing investigation.
Continued investigating ongoing criminal violations in Rockland.
Conducted joint compliance checks with Probation and Parole on probationers living in Rockland.
Patrol Division –
The Rockland Police Department continues to receive a tremendous amount of
community support after the tragic events in Dallas and Baton Rouge. This support has been overwhelming and greatly appreciated by all members of the department.
All members of the Patrol Division were busy with the North Atlantic Blues Festival. All reports indicate the crowd was very cooperative and the officers and attendees had a great time.
Off. Bagley assisted new parents with properly installing child safety seats. Off. Bagley has attended training and is certified in the proper installation of child safety seats.
Public restrooms on Tillson Ave. and at Johnson Memorial Park were secured on a nightly basis.
Officer assisted Camden P.D. with attempting to locate a subject wanted for assault in their town.
Officers conducted bail condition compliance checks on several people residing in Rockland who are on active bail conditions.
Officers deployed for patrols on foot in the downtown area.
Officers deployed for patrols on bicycle and motorcycle as weather and staffing levels allowed.
Officers conducted targeted traffic enforcement details at various locations throughout the city. The focus of these details were speed and distracted driver enforcement.
Officers responded to 245 calls for service, 11 motor vehicles crashes and conducted 32 traffic stops. As a result, 13 people were either summonsed or arrested for various violations.
OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR
I attended Monday evening’s special Council meeting.
The Summer Breakfast & Lunch program continues; Wednesday we distributed every lunch, and could have used more.
Catinka Knoth’s Adult Drawing class featured Oriental Poppies in an Early Summer Garden; the Children’s class drew marine mammals.
This was an “on week” for LEGO™ Club; LEGO™ Master Jon Newton returned after a brief hiatus.
The Pokémon craze has hit libraries all over the State; much posting on a library listserv regarding this phenomenon. The Library (exterior spot) is a gym. Who knew? I had to have a staff member with a young child explain this to me. Since then, of course, there’s been an enormous amount of coverage of this phenomenon in the media.
We held a brief staff meeting on Wednesday morning.
I continued work on the departmental staff manual.
In lieu of Wednesday Storytime, the Coastal Children's Museum was here with their touch tank. The tank included a very young lobster, a hermit crab, and his hidey-hole, and a crab. Children were allowed to interact with the animals, much to their delight. It was such an active, exciting time, that no stories were read, and the kids went from the tank, to exploring other library pleasures.
I reviewed and responded to a draft RFP for City facilities HVAC Maintenance contract.
On Thursday morning, Storytime at the Rockland Farmers’ Market was led by former Friends’ Board member Carol Miller, with tent set-up and removal by Jeanie & Jim Schaden.
A big thank you to Don Fowles, for repairing a public PC which I was unable to troubleshoot to a good solution.
I attended the monthly meeting of the Friends of Rockland Public Library Board.
The Thursday evening Arts & Cultural Event was the film: My Way To Olympia; this event was a collaboration with POV ( http://www.pbs.org/pov/ ), PBS' award-winning nonfiction film series. Who better to cover the Paralympics, the international sporting event for athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities, than Niko von Glasow, the world's best-known disabled filmmaker (who, incidentally, hates sports)?
On Saturday the Children’s Room offered, 5-2-1-0 Let's Go!, Let's get moving! For three July Saturdays, staff will be jumping, dancing, and playing with kids as a part of this nationally recognized childhood obesity prevention program, implemented throughout Maine. Next Saturday will be the last.
Upcoming: an Author Talk: Josh Christie, Maine Outdoor Adventure Guide; also—a opportunity to clean out no longer needed items and do a good deed-- The Friends are teaming up again and are now accepting donations for their Second Annual Bag and Tag Sale, being held August 20th on the Union Street side of the library. We are looking for household items, furniture, clothing, anything yard sale-y. Please, no couches or electronics. All proceeds from this sale benefit the library, and tax deductible receipts are available! The Friends are more than happy to come and collect your stuff for you. Please do not bring items to the library. Contacts:
Jeanie Schaden: 593-7112,
jamesschaden@yahoo.com or Rebecca Albright: 975-3946, becalbright@roadrunner.com.
Thank you!
OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR
Removed the #5 pump at the Park St. pump station and sent it to A.C. Electric to be tested and rebuilt.
Made temporary repairs to the check valve on the #2 plant water pump and ordered a replacement valve.
Removed, repaired and reinstalled the #4 Plant Water Pump.
Exercised and tested the Trailer mounted emergency generator.
Completed preventive maintenance on the #3 R.A.S. pump.
Contacted the manufacturer and ordered spare parts for the various Flygt pumps in use at the pump stations.
Worked with Stultz Electric to correct an issue with one of the pump variable frequency drives at the Park St. pump station.
Checked and changed the batteries in the two flow meters in the sewer main at Harbor Park.
Used the CCTV pipeline camera to investigate a unmapped sewer main on Purchase St. near Holmes St. This information can now be entered into our G.I.S.
Inspected an abandoned sewer lateral being disconnected and sealed by the property owner on Summer Street.
Met with the Coast Guard on Tillson Ave. to attempt CCTV inspection of sewer and drain piping inside the building. The camera equipment the city owns is too large to inspect the pipes they are concerned about. We were able to refer them to a contractor with the necessary equipment.
Completed CCTV inspection of a 15 inch drain pipe on Old County Rd. at Rt. 17 for the Dept. of Public Services.
Responded to 5 Dig-Safe requests for FairPoint Communications.
Completed 700 ft. of CCTV inspection of the sewer main on Spruce Street.
Composite samples monitored during the week: Municipal Influent, Aeration Basin Influent, Secondary Effluent, FMC Effluent.
The following tests were performed on the above composite samples throughout the week: 27 TSS tests, 15 BOD tests, 10 Nitrate tests, 5 Nitrite tests, 5 Ammonia tests, 5 COD tests, 5 Settleable Solids tests.
Grab samples monitored during the week: Aeration Basins, Municipal Influent, Primary Effluent, Secondary Effluent, Chlorine Contact Chamber, Hypo Pump
The following tests were performed on the above grab samples throughout the week: 26 TSS tests, 25 VSS tests, 5 Phosphorous tests, 5 Microscopic evaluations, 18 Settleable Solids tests, 18 pH tests, 17 conductivity tests, 30 Cl2 tests, 5 fecal coliform tests
Performed E coli testing for 2 samples from Lindsey Brook.
Performed E coli testing for Georges River Land Trust.
Lab reports prepared and sent to GRLT.
BOD & TSS testing was completed for North Haven.
Lab reports were prepared and sent to North Haven.
Sent samples out for WET and Analytical Chemistry testing.
There was a CSO event on Sunday July 17th.
Maximum flow through CSO structure was 14.4MGD.
Average flows through secondary treatment were 2.4MGD.
OFFICE OF THE CITY ASSESSOR
This week has been an ongoing effort to finalize the city valuation. Again I will be out on Saturday verifying permit work that is completed and taking pictures and measurements of it. And updating the properties with the new info.
Dennis was in this week to help get ready for commitment.
OFFICE OF THE HARBORMASTER
Docks were full during the Blues Festival 2016, fun was had by all!
Held monthly Harbor Commission meeting.
One dock steward was taking fees for using the south end boat ramp, posted signs stating the fee schedule.
Security camera at the fish pier is online and recording.
Lost dinghy was found and returned to the owner.
Friendship sloops are in for the weekend.
Starting preps for annual Lobster Festival, setup begins next week.
CITY OF ROCKLAND
Meeting Weekly Schedule
Monday, July 25, 2016
10:00 AM Library Advisory Committee, Library Board Room
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
5:00 PM Energy Committee Meeting, Library Mural Room
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
5:30 PM Special Council Meeting, CIP and Bond Discussion, Council
Chambers
Thursday, July 28, 2016
4:00 PM Economic Development Advisory Committee, Council Chambers
6:00 PM Comprehensive Planning Commission, Council Chambers
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