Finance Department: The annual budget is well underway. We began the development at the department level, in early January, by sending out historical reports in the form of an excel template that could be completed with a preliminary FY22 budget. The package also included a CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) template, and a proposed schedule of budgeting events through completion. Parallel to this, all wages and benefit information was gathered and input into our accounting system. All of the department work was received back on time. This information was compiled and also input into our accounting system. A preliminary budget book was put together for each department head for review. This process was followed by Zoom meetings with department heads for clarification and adjustments. We are currently at the second stage of the process, City Manager Review, where some fine tuning is done prior to meeting with City Council for finalization. That last process happens during the month of May.

As far as the City goes, new financings have been limited to borrowing for our capital projects of $312,526. This was in the form of a capital lease. Most of our financing activity has been at the Waste Water Treatment plant surrounding a major renovation project there. We worked with USDA and secured an $8.0 million loan that had a $1.9 million grant associated with it. This was set up to fund the projected $10.0 million project. After several months of preliminary engineering, the project went out to bid. Given Covid, time passed since project inception and the specialized equipment, there was a project overrun on the bid results. An additional loan of
$462,000 was secured from USDA, and a remaining amount of approximately $561,000 will either be taken from existing City and Waste Water reserves, or reduce the scope of the project.

Because of Covid-19 and the uncertainty we were facing in March of 2020 the City secured a $1.0 million line of credit to protect ongoing operations financially if needed. To date, no funds have been drawn down. This line will expire at June 30th of this year.

After collecting a year’s worth of data, on-line vehicle re-registration for Rockland is now in place. This process offers a choice of using your credit card, for a small fee, or an electronic check, for no charge, at: https://www1.maine.gov/online/bmv/rapid-renewal/

We are in the processing of implementing a new treasury system. It is designed to act like a Point-of-sale system and will be used for faster payment receipt and processing. Equipment is currently being installed, and training is underway. Once completed for tax and local billings, other City billing systems i.e. solid waste etc., will also be tied into the system.

As of today, our general fund has a balance of $12.0 million. It is currently earning an interest rate of 1.9%. The contract with our bank that ensures that rate will expire at the end of April. At that point we intend to renegotiate our banking relationship.

Police Department: As of March 15, 2021, 90% of police department employees have been fully vaccinated against COVID 19. The department is now open to public access according to CDC guidelines. Officers will begin proactive policing throughout the city with PPE and social distancing guidelines still in effect. Officers are proactively patrolling city parks and businesses to ensure compliance with social distancing guidelines and face coverings. Officers are using an educational approach when violations are observed. The Chief continues to monitor the COVID-19 Pandemic as it relates to law enforcement. Again, we are seeing very few violations as community members in general are displaying great social responsibility in complying with these orders.

Officer Jeff Aeschlimann has begun training at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. In order to gain certification as a fulltime Law Enforcement Officer in the State of Maine. The department will have one officer who needs to attend the basic Law Enforcement Academy. It is not known when that officer will receive his academy start date.

Traffic enforcement details are being conducted in areas throughout the city that have been identified as areas requiring extra enforcement. Detectives in the Criminal Investigation Division continue to investigate open criminal investigations. The detectives are also busy working with other local, state and federal partners on investigations that come into Rockland or start in Rockland and branch out to other jurisdictions.

The Chief has met with community advocates against domestic violence and is working with those advocates and the District Attorney’s Office to improve prosecution and sentencing against offenders. These groups are also looking at alternative funding sources for body worn cameras and are completing grant applications in an attempt to secure alternative funding. He continues to meet with several different community groups including those involving mental health, substance use disorder and broader community involvement.

The Chief is working with the Main St. Redesign Committee as it moves forward with a traffic plan for this summer. He also attended two “Community Conversations” last month. One was concerning how to make Rockland more welcoming and inclusive and the other was focused on mental health and suicide prevention during the COVID 19 Pandemic.

The department is continuing its aggressive recruitment campaign in an attempt to fill vacancies within the Patrol Division.

Community Development: The team of LK Planning (Donna Larson) and Phil Saucier from Bernstein have been selected as the winning bidders to undertake the clarifying edit of Chapter 19 – Rockland’s land use code. Community Development and the Code Office are jointly managing this project.  

Community Development has been talking with MaineHealth about the future of the Knox Center, and the potential for it to be made available to developers of workforce housing. We also have been assisting businesses looking to locate or expand in Rockland – a positive sign for economic recovery.

City LED lighting projects have been completed at the Fire Station and the Police station, which together  are estimated to save $100,000 in electricity costs over the life of the fixtures. And the bicycle repair station funded via a BikeMaine grant has been ordered and will be installed near the public restrooms on Tillson Avenue later this spring. 

Wastewater Treatment Facility: The Environmental Compliance Manager completed and submitted the renewal of the City of Rockland’s MEPDES permit. The Sludge Survey Report was submitted to Maine D.E.P.

Bids were received and opened for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade. The contract was awarded to APEX Construction Inc. of Somersworth, New Hampshire.

We are working on the annual spring cleanup of the grounds at the treatment plant and 9 pump stations around the city. We’ve begun setup of the seasonal chemical disinfection systems that are required to be operating early in May.

Pipeline contractor GraniteInliner from Fairfield, Maine lined a 250 ft. section of sewer main east of Broadway near Admontem Ave. One of the pumps from the Park St. pump station was sent to be rebuilt and is expected to be completed by the end of April. Interstate Septic cleaned and pumped the wetwells at Glenwood Ave. and Waldo Ave. pump stations. Power Products Inc. completed the annual P.M. service on the backup generators.

We are working to finalize plans and estimates for sewer repair projects to be completed this year. With the recent change in the weather we have started to receive applications for sewer repair permits from contractors to repair or replace private sewer lines.

Library: The Valentine Gift Bags were extremely well-received by the community, and we had some very heart-warming feedback. In addition to the online posting of virtual events, Patty King developed themes and schedule for fun, Facebook posts—we offer Monday Memes (Teresa Verrill), Battle of the Bands (Jessie Blanchard), Wordy Wednesday (Patty), Throwback Thursdays (Em Lewis), and Foodie Fridays (katie Drago), as a way to stay interactively engaged.

In early March, we began extending hours to 5:30 Tuesdays & Thursdays, to accommodate those working till 5.

We are now hosting the magnificent diorama, Launching Day: Mertie B. Crowley, which depicts the launching of the six-masted schooner Mertie B. Crowley Aug. 24, 1907, and was formerly housed at the Pen Bay Chamber of Commerce/Maine Lighthouse Museum.

In addition to cataloging and processing approximately 114 items in February, Teresa, along with Patty and Em covered them as well, a task formerly done by our faithful volunteers. Jessie continues to catalog materials as well, and is our point person for our new magazine subscription vendor. Teresa also did the monthly safety checks of the building The Library Director worked with organizers of, and the Library hosted, the facilitated
Community Conversation which asked the question “How can we continue to make Rockland a welcoming place for everyone?” presented by – the Library, Rockland Main Street, the Strand, the Farnsworth, Trekkers, WRFR, the City, Rockland Rotary, PenBay Chamber of Commerce, Rockland P.D., OUT Maine, Knox County Homeless Coalition, and the Apprenticeshop, with support from the Maine Downtown Center and the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation.  

The Library continues to offer programming to adults (Em) and kids (Katie) via Zoom and/or the Library YouTube channel. The bi-monthly newsletter, The Library Lowdown has a virtual events brochure, articles of interest, book reviews, and more. You can subscribe by emailing refdesk@rocklandmaine.gov.

Upcoming— National Library Week! To celebrate, the Library is soliciting video stories for a feature which will premiere on April 10. Participants are invited to go to the VidHug website
(https://app.vidhug.com/national-library-week-video/BJrBpEfE_/record), click on “Record Video”;

(as long as they are on a phone or a computer or device with a camera), and answer one of the following questions in around 60 seconds or less (share a specific story if you can): “Why is the library important to you?” or “How does the library help you and the community?” Videos must be submitted by Monday, April 5 for inclusion in the video. More details can be found on the Rockland Public Library website.

Code Enforcement: Adam and Wyatt attended Planning Board Meetings on March 9 and March 16, and attended three online training through the State Fire Marshalls Office.

The Code Office did eleven license inspections, some done in conjunction with the Fire Department and Police Department. Adam and Wyatt met with contractors, property and business owners regarding various proposed projects throughout the city, some of these meetings were in conjunction with the Fire Department and included on-site inspections. The Code Office and Fire Department did 2 Preconveyance inspections.

We issued nineteen building permits. We issued permits for new construction of single family dwellings on South St, Third St and Crescent St, a fence on Camden St, We issued shed permits for Main St, Third St. Renovations on Scott St, Old County Rd, Mt. View Ext, McLoud St, Camden St, Lake View Dr. and West Meadow Rd.

We continue to be busy with various permits, inspections, and assisting the public with questions. The following permits were issued by the Code Office:

o 19 Building Permits
o 20 Electrical Permits
o 10 Plumbing Permits
o 1 Sewer Repair/connection
o 3 Sign Permits
o 54 Short Term Rental renewals
o 5 Excavation Permits
o 1 Planning Board Applications
o 3 Inquiry/ Complaints
o 0 Flood Plain Permit
o 0 Driveway Permit
o 2 Street/Sidewalk Encumbrance Permit
o 1 Zoning Board of Appeals Application

We are projecting the coming month to be very busy with building permits, inquiry forms and inspections. The Planning Board and Code Office has begun the review process for Breakwater Commons on Cranberry Isles, which is a very large project coming to Rockland.

Public Services: Public Services filled their Transfer Station Attendant position. We also completed the five year paving assessment and evaluation. High speed internet is now available in the Transfer Station trailer. The landfill rapid fill is in progress and the closure application draft has been submitted to the DEP. Storm water projects are being reviewed for approaches and funding.

The spring debris clean-up will commence May 3rd. The centerline striping bid opening is April 8th and the City Hall paving bid opening is April 29th. We are also planning projects for the Public Services summer intern.