Better communication and a focus on regionalization top the list of this year’s goals for Rockport’s Select Board and Town Manager. (All 14 goals along with the Town Manager’s goals can be viewed on the Town website.) Of course, these are in addition to the vital day-to-day work that we and our Town staff perform to keep Rockport running efficiently. And these goals include continued oversight of long-term projects (such as the Maine Department of Transportation’s work on the Goose River Bridge, construction of the privately-funded new Rockport Common park, and evaluation of the Opera House).

To improve the Select Board’s communication with residents and to assure that we’re responsive to their needs, in January we’re launching a series of surveys to learn more about what residents value, how they’d like us to balance the competing demands on staff time and what we pay for town services, as well as how to keep everyone informed along the way. The information learned from these surveys will guide us in our decision-making going forward.

In addition to better communication among residents, we plan to redouble our efforts to save costs through sharing services, equipment, and expertise with neighboring towns.

To that end, we will be meeting with town leaders in those communities to discuss cost-saving opportunities while also establishing our own Regionalization Task Force. We are looking for volunteers to serve the Task Force, and once staffed, it will be empowered to explore new cost-saving opportunities wherever they may exist.

With our goals now locked in, we are looking forward to a productive year. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to any of us at our town email addresses.

Sincerely,

The Rockport Select Board

Denise Munger, Chair

Kimberlee Graffam, Vice-Chair

John Viehman

Samantha Appleton

Linda Greenlaw