In advance of the Nov. 12 Rockport Select Board meeting, Town Manager Jon Duke circulated the following report and update from department heads.

Elections
2542 voters cast ballots in the Town of Rockport in our election on Tuesday. Of those ballots, more than half, 1,362 ballots, were voted in by absentee ballot. As residents may suspect, there is a great deal of work that goes into making an election a success. From police and fire departments assisting with making this a safe election in the face of bomb threats in other Maine communities, public works ensuring parking signage allowed residents can easily park and vote, volunteers taking time our of their lives to help, town staff helping our clerks make this a success, and to our town clerks always being an excellent representative of holding a free and fair election; this was an election for the record books.

All of the items on the Town ballot were approved with overwhelming majorities and we will immediately get to work to improving stream crossings and sewer connections to affordable housing projects.

Harbor

Harbor Dates to Know:

• All kayaks and small paddle craft that are stored on the town rack must be removed by November 15.
• Save the date for December 31 for Holiday on the Harbor’s New Year’s Evecelebration. Food trucks, music, luminaries, and fireworks- more information to come.
  
  
  Police Department

  New Hire:
  We would like to welcome Christopher Young as our new Lieutenant. Chris began his law enforcement career in Rockport in the mid-1990’s before moving on to a long career with the Rockland Police Department, eventually rising through the ranks to the position of chief. More recently, Chris worked at the Bureau of Motor Vehicle’s Division of Enforcement. Chris will begin work on December 2 and will work during the days both on the road and also as a primary point of contact for our schools, service organizations, and other entities. The lieutenantwill be the Town’s patrol supervisor as well as handle investigations. Chief Gagne and I are enthusiastic in our support of Chris and we’re looking forward to his arrival on the beat.

Departures
I’m sad to note the departure from our department of patrol officer Celjeta Bixhaku, whose last day was November 1st. “Jeta” was a real cornerstone of the Town’s police department for the last four years, and we are sad to see her move on to Rockland Police Department. Thank you Jeta!

Fire Department

West Rockport Fire Station Updates
We are looking at a move in date near the middle of December for the new West Rockport Fire Station. There will still be several weeks of punch list items needing to be completed, and exterior items that will wait until spring, but we will be moving in and functioning as a full-time Fire and EMS Service.

Calls
The fire department has had 365 calls YTD, and our first responding crew has had 121 EMS calls.

Home Safety
As winter months are near, we want to remind everyone this is the perfect time of year to complete a fall inspect of all your smoke detectors. Start by checking for the expiration dates on the back side. Each detector is good for 7-10 years, anything older than that should be replaced.

Next step is using a can of keyboard air cleaner and spray your detector out to ensure all the dust particles are clear of the sensors. Continue by checking your battery and replace if it is greater than a year old. Move onto to your CO or Gas detectors following the same steps as you did with the smoke detectors. If you need help, please do not hesitate to call the fire station 207-236-4437.

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

Marge Jones Fields

Facility Improvements
In some unfortunate news, our basketball courts will be out of commission for some months, and we can use your help to get them back into playing shape. Despite our best attempts to resurface our basketball courts, the courts have a very large crack across the entire centerline which necessitates removing all the pavement, re-compacting the gravel underneath and new pavement.

With recent winters and spring rains the cracks were just too big to fix. A fundraising will be started to help with this portion that was in the plan. New basketball post and backboards with new pavement and lines 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.

If you want to schedule the use of a field for this year, email rockportrec@rockportmaine.gov.

Public Works

Our major projects for 2024 are now complete with Main Street in the village with a complete sidewalk and drainage, our first coat of paving on Main Street between Route 1 and Simonton’s Corner, and drainage improvements at Simonton’s Corner.

We’ve moved some smaller projects like catch basin clean out, ditching along Meadow Street, and we’ve used our new flail mower to knock back overgrowth along roadsides all over town.

We are now in the process of readying our trucks and materials for the winter plowing season. We’re now stocked with winter sand and our plow gear is in process of being installed.

Remember if you have any questions or concerns on Town roads, please reach out to Public Works at 236-6245.

Planning and Codes

Comprehensive Plan
The first Public Meeting on the latest draft of the Comprehensive Plan will be on November 14 at the Opera House. A draft is available on the Towns website for review.

Harbor Strategic Plan Task Force
The Task Force completed work on edits on the RFP to tackle this plan and the request has been sent out for responses.

VPI Task Force/Bridge Advisory Group
We will be meeting with Maine DOT Bridge department to discuss Goose River Bridge work to be done and how it could accommodate a second sidewalk. It seems very preliminary but it’s fair to say its looking quite good we could end up with sidewalks on both sides of a new bridge. There is a lot of work left to do on this effort, but Maine DOT has worked hard to respond to citizen requests.

RES Site
The RES project, as many of the readers are likely aware, is well underway. A slight change with the landscaping firm has happened, now operated by Tandem Landscape Architects. Their final version of the conceptual rendering has been publicly unveiled and can be seen on their website. The next steps are the sticky points of working out the details of how this all officially works on Town owned land.

Grants
There are a number that are pending, which would be premature to list here. Grant opportunities are not guaranteed and is a lot of work to do. However, when awarded it maximizes the impact of tax-payer funds for projects the Town is pursuing through its Capital Improvement Plan and yearly budget.

Library

Upcoming Programs: Check out the library website at https://www.rockport.lib.me.us/

Assessing

Revaluation
Representatives from KRT Appraisal have been circulating around Rockport through the summer 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.

Opera House

For more information on all of our events, please visit our calendar at rockportmaine.gov/operahousecalendar.

If you wish to participate in helping make these shows part of our calendar in 2025, please visitRockportOperaHouse.org/Sponsorship to learn more.

Employment Opportunities

We have several job openings with the Town of Rockport, stop by the Town Office for an application or call and we can email you an application.

The Town of Rockport is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Job applications are available on our town website, along with a detailed job description and pay/benefits. 

Patrol Officer

The Police Department is currently accepting applications for a full-time Police Officer.

Applicants must have completed the Alert test and the Pre-Service training course of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy (MCJA). Preference may be given to applicants who have graduated from the MCJA or hold a degree in criminal justice or law enforcement. Applicants must meet age requirements as established by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and successfully pass a physical agility test (MCJA standards), oral board, background investigation, psychological, polygraph and medical examinations.

The Town of Rockport offers a very competitive wage and benefit package. Currently they have set working schedules, working four days on and three days off. Officers with Full-time certification and 5-years' experience may qualify for a thirty-thousand-dollar sign on bonus, and lateral entry year for year pay and benefits.

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 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

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.