Rockport Town Manager Jon Duke included the following monthly report in the Feb. 10 Rockport Select Board pre-meeting packet. In it are department head reports, as well as updates on various municipal initiatives, such as business licenses and the town's proposed comprehensive plan.

Finance

Budget season is upon us. Department heads have submitted their budget requests for Fiscal Year 2026, and I am reviewing each request before finalizing my proposed budget and presenting that budget to the Select Board and Budget Committee in early March. Budget reviews by the Select Board and Budget Committee will occur later in March before a budget is approved by the Select Board and placed in the June ballot for voters to consider.

Employee Safety Training

All town employees attended their annual safety training on Tuesday, January 28. Our involvement in the SHAPE program provides for the Town reduced worker’s compensation rates and a greater dividend from the worker’s compensation pool. This requires an added layer of attention to the Town’s safety records but ultimately provides for a safer workplace and lower costs for our taxpayers.

Buildings and Grounds

In addition to the regular maintenance schedule, our crews have been working at the harbor replacing windows which had reached their end of life. These windows should help our harbor staff keep a clearer view of the entire harbor and keep a lot more of the heat inside the building in the winter.

Maine Municipal Association Scholarships

MMA is currently offering five (5) $1,000 scholarships for Maine high school seniors planning to enter post-secondary education at a community college, trade school or university, which is located in Maine that will be pursuing a career in municipal government or public service.

Applications are being accepted now with the deadline at noon on Wednesday, April 30.

Town Clerk

Cemetery Program: Things are progressing nicely with our new database, which will be extremely helpful managing all our cemeteries. At present the Rockville Cemetery is nearlycomplete and we will move to West Rockport and then Sea View before focusing on the cemeteries which are closed to new lot sales.

Liquor Licensing: Registrations and excise tax submissions are now managed through the Bureau of Liquor Enforcement's Enterprise Liquor Licensing System (BELLS). BELLS offers a streamlined, all-in-one platform for licensees to manage their applications and compliance requirements. For those businesses and caterers who have not received a license in the last few months, they will experience a very different process. Please reach out to our Town Clerk’s office for more information.

Bureau of Motor Vehicle Plate Changes: On May 1, 2025, the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles will begin replacing all existing Chickadee plates with a new design.

Anyone who currently has plates with the chickadee design will be required to obtain new plates when they renew their registration or obtain a new registration on or after May 1, 2025.

This means municipalities will be issuing a new plate when registrants with a chickadee plate “renew their registrations.”

For new registrations and renewals in the Passenger Class (PC) class code, registrants can choose:

• a Pine Tree Plate (existing PC class code) for no additional costs; or

• a “no tree plate” (new NT class code) for no additional costs; or

• one of the current specialty plates (normal fees apply).

Plate Reservations
Registrants who would like to keep their current chickadee plate numbers may reserve their plate number for a $25 one-time fee. This includes people with vanity, low digit, and National Guard (PC class code) plates. You can reserve your plate online at maine.gov/online/reservemyplate. Registrants with questions about reserving platereserve.bmv@maine.gov.

Fire Department

West Rockport Fire Station Updates:
Construction at the West Rockport Fire Station is nearly completion. With heat and electricity now locked in as the last major pieces of the puzzle completed, work has turned into more finishing touches to complete the project.

Our crew have begun to move some items into the building and appliances have been delivered. Our priority in getting the building complete will be to make it suitable for habitation for our 24-hour crews and to return our fire trucks to the station which have been stored elsewhere following the demolition of the old building.

In the interim, our 24-hour crew has been operating for a couple of months and due to a lack of available ambulances, we have been able to transport a handful of patients. Our existing contract with Northeast Mobile Health Services will end in April, but we are ready to tackle the full need of transporting patients today.

Our new ambulance and mini pumper which were ordered two years ago will be delivered near the end of February/early March.

Calls
We are now operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so our call volume will increase significantly in 2025.

Volunteer Opportunities
For those interested in learning more about joining the fire department, please contact Chief Jason Peasley at jpeasley@rockportmaine.gov.

Employment Opportunities
We are currently hiring Per Diem Paramedics and Per Diem Firefighters EMT/AEMT, check out our website for more details.

Harbor

Harbormaster Abbie Leonard will be available weekly Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday if you need any harbor related assistance you can reach her on her cell phone on those days. As I noted above, there is construction happening to replace the windows in the office which will impact on the availability of in-person walk-up service.

Planning and Codes

Updates:
Scott Bickford retired last month with his last day on the 24th of January. He will be missed, and we wish him all the best in his next adventure of his vehicle restoration projects. He has a 1997 suburban and a 1980 dump truck that needs some TLC.

Andrew Lowe was hired as the new Code Enforcement Officer, Local Plumbing Inspector, and Health Officer to fill the sizeable shoes left by Scott. Andrew, thankfully, has been working with Scott since May and has a clear picture of the needs of this position and our community. Prior to his hire in Rockport, Andrew was employed for many years with the Town of Camden, most recently as Assistant Fire Chief. Andrew’s family-owned Prince’s Furniture for generations in our region and has been actively involved in the fire service. We are lucky to not only have someone of Andrew’s experience and knowledge in the field, but his ability helps any co-worker or resident at a moment’s notice for any reason at all sets the type of example we all should want in a town employee.

We are currently interviewing candidates for the Administrative Assistant position. Our hope is to have someone hired by the end of this month.

Business Ordinance Licenses:

As some may recall, the Town ballot in November included an ordinance change which institutes licensing for businesses who provide lodging and/or serve food. The process of beginning this licensing effort is underway and letters to these businesses are being sent out this month. In summation, this letter is an introduction to the ordinance and helpful information regarding what to expect and who to contact. This also includes a self-check list for businesses to start this process in preparation of their inspection.

Comprehensive Plan:

The Comprehensive Plan is done with the final recommendation from the Comprehensive Planning Committee. This has been a long process with a diligent committee working to ensure the community has a plan that is implementable, non-controversial, and will push the community in the right direction. This document is off to the State for their approval and is ready for the June vote.

The Comprehensive Plan “draft” document is available on the town website for review

Harbor Strategic Plan Task Force:
The Harbor Strategic Plan is underway, and the Town has engaged Richardson and Associates and WSP Engineering to draft this plan. The consultants will be working on creating a plan for our harbor and how to best combat climate change with our existing assets. There will be public meetings, which will be posted on the Town Calendar and circulated through Civic Ready. The final presentation will be made to the Select Board and is tentatively scheduled for July.

VPI Task Force/Bridge Advisory Group:
The Village Partnership Initiative task force has met with MDOT bridge department, and we will be receiving a bridge a sidewalk on both sides of the new Goose River Bridge. We do not yet have a final design worth sharing at this point, but once MDOT has more final plans and accompanying dates we will upload to our Projects page the details for the public to follow along with.

Business Updates:
Heiwa Tofu is expanding its business by almost 3,000 sq.ft. This a great for their business and will allow them to double their production. They plan to begin construction this spring.

VPI Tire is still under construction but making a lot of progress. This is a new addition to Rockport and is located at 1075 Commercial St which is the former location of Denny’s.

RES Site Project:
The RES site project is aiming at breaking ground this summer, so stay tuned for more information regarding this. It has been a long process, but one that will be worthwhile for the community. We are currently working on a collaboration effort to leverage the Lesher Family Foundation donation with grant funding to bring more money to the table for this project and to help endowment of this park. This is an item that will require a town vote, and we are preparing the language for the June ballot. This grant application will not cost the Town anything. Public Works

Winter Work: Our crews are already out starting our road work for 2025, with brush cutting in preparation, clearing the sides of the roads.

Our Buildings and Grounds department is doing some interior construction at the public works garage to help with the resting quarters.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding Town roads, please reach out to Public Works at 207-236-6245 between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Marge Jones Fields:

The Marge Jones Fields will remain closed till spring, but if you would like to plan ahead and reserve the use of a field for this year, email rockportrec@rockportmaine.gov.

Tennis/Pickleball Court Reservation Policy:

• Reservations can be made for a single month/month or an entire season.

• Anytime when the tennis/pickleball court is not reserved it is “first come first serve play."

  The usage fee will be $250 per month, up to $1,000 for the entire season. •

• No reservations on Sundays. This day will remain first come, first serve all day. •

• Tennis/pickleball groups that pay the monthly or annual fee may reserve the full court area or half (one tennis court) up to three hours of court time per day each week Monday - Saturday, not to exceed 15 hours total per week. No more than three total hours in a day, and you cannot reserve the same time block for more than 3 days in one week. This allows others to utilize these time slots for first come first serve play.

  Facility Improvements:
  A fundraising effort has begun to help with new basketball post and backboards, pavement and lines which will be installed in the spring once the ground has time to settle.

  If you wish to help us complete this unplanned project, please reach out to Fire Chief Jason Peasley or myself.

  Library:

  Events:
  For information on our events, check out the library website for https://www.rockport.lib.me.us

• anything from basic computer questions to using your iPad with the Maine Download Library. This free service is available every Thursday at 4 p.m. in the marine room.

  The library has a raft of desktops and laptop computers for your use in the building. The desktops are located by the main circulation desk. The laptops are located behind the main circulation desk. If you would like to use a laptop in the building, ask a librarian.

  The library is free for computer use, browsing, reference, and program attendance. To borrow materials, you must register for a library card (or present a valid library card from one of the libraries in Maine's Reciprocal Borrowing Program to view the list of participating libraries.  Free cards are available to all Rockport residents and taxpayers, to all who work in Rockport, and to all children and students in Knox and Waldo Counties. Proper ID verifying residency is required. Nonresident cards are available for a $20 annual fee for individuals, and $10 for short-term visitors. Proper identification required such as a valid driver's license, or photo ID and proof of mailing address.

  Books, magazines, audio- books, DVDs, and ukuleles circulate for a three-week period. Items may be renewed two times unless another borrower has requested the item. You can request renewals in person or by telephone and get confirmation. If you request by sending an email to rpl@rockport.lib.me.us, we will reply to confirm the renewal or let you know that the item cannot be renewed. You can also renew your borrowed items online.

  Volunteer Opportunities:

  We are often looking for volunteers to assist with shelving, shelf-reading, assisting the Friends of the Library with their book sales, craft prep for children's programs, CD cleaning, and more. If you are an adult, please contact Julia, our Deputy Director at jpierce@rockportmaine.gov or call 207-236-3642.

  If you are a teen between ages 14-18 and are interested in volunteering with the library, please contact Stephanie, our Youth Services Librarian at scurcione@rockportmaine.gov or call 207- 236-3642.

  Sponsorships:
  If you wish to participate in helping make these shows part of our calendar in 2025, please visit RockportOperaHouse.org/Sponsorship to learn more. Your sponsorship will make a difference and will bring even more vibrancy to our ongoing programming!

  Take a moment right now to give to the Rockport ACE Annual Fund, Arts, Culture and Entertainment for all. Make a potentially tax-deductible donation of any amount to support the work we are doing to revitalize the arts in Rockport and bring the community together.

  Individuals or businesses can choose to make a one-time donation or recurrent monthly contribution of any amount using the custom feature on our giving page. Businesses may also choose from already crafted levels which each include visibility for your business as a gesture of gratitude for giving.

  Donut Festival:

  The town is excited to announce the 3rd Annual Donut Festival will be on June 13 and 14, 2025. We served up 13,410 donuts during our second annual event and we are going even BIGGER inc2025 -  follow our website forupcoming updates. Admission is FREE!

  Employment Opportunities:

  Full-Time Administrative Assistant for Planning and Development Department:
  The Administrative Assistant is responsible for the performance of administrative and clerical work in support of the department and is the primary point of contact for incoming phone calls and walk-in traffic for the Town office. This position has considerable contact with the public, local contractors, vendors, government agencies, and town employees.

  The successful candidate must have the ability to get along with others in a professional manner; considerable knowledge of business writing skills, excellent employee and public relations skills and ability to handle multiple tasks in a timely, detailed, and accurate manner; excellent organizational and time management skills, and knowledge of various software programs, including Microsoft Office Suite.

  The candidate must possess a combination of education and experience equivalent to a high school diploma or equivalent; one to three (1-3) years progressively responsible experience in administrative/clerical work; or any equivalent combination of education, training, and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

  For a complete job description visit our website at rockportmaine.gov/jobs. To be considered for employment all applicants must complete an application which can be obtained on the town website, or you can pick one up at the town office.

  Completed applications should be sent to: Attn: Jonathan Duke, Town of Rockport, 101 Main Street, Rockport, ME 04856, or email to employment@rockportmaine.gov.

  Applications will be accepted till the job is filled. The Town of Rockport offers an excellent pay and benefit package and is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

  Assessing

  Revaluation:
  Representatives from KRT Appraisal have been circulating around Rockport through the summer and fall visiting various neighborhoods to gather data concerning each property in our town. The data from each property is crucial to provide as clear a representation as possible as to the assessed value of each property.

  This process can seem intrusive for property owners, but a full property revaluation requires all data involved to be as accurate as possible. Neither the Town, nor the contractors employed by the Town, wish to provide an inaccurate value to any property owner which could easily be resolved if the revaluation company is able to gather an accurate read on a given property. Obviously, the sales of properties in Rockport in recent months will set a stage to understand the impact of the market value, but we all need each property owner’s help in providing that data through these visits to improve the accuracy of the entire effort.

  Rockport has not had a full property revaluation since 2005 and while our assessing department works diligently to gather information each year, the best method to level set all properties is a full property revaluation. We appreciate your assistance through this process.

  Broadband Expansion:

  Rockport is working toward the expansion of the current limited fiber network. Our goal right now is to work with Axiom to build out the existing fiber service by using our ARPA funds to build off the existing network along Central/Union/Main Streets and extend the line down Pascal Avenue and loop in the Harbormaster’s building. Expect more information forthcoming for users of this network currently working with GWI to manage this service.

  Civic Ready:

  We encourage all residents to sign up for this, if you are interested in knowing what is happening in the Town of Rockport. What is great about this system is that you decide which types of information you will receive whether it is a reminder when property taxes are due to information on an upcoming event at the library, opera house or when a public works project is happening in your neighborhood; Civic Alert can keep you informed. Those interested can also sign up for alerts on our website at https://rockportmaine.gov/civicready

  Maine Water Assistance Program:

  This is a federally funded program to help support eligible households in having access to drinking water and wastewater utility services. Households will be required to have water liability to be eligible for the drinking water/wastewater program. To receive an application, you can call 888-623-6762 or email water@mainehousing.org.

  Rockport Resource Newsletter:

  If you would like to receive the Rockport Resource Newsletter via email you can sign up through our website.