During the week ending April 9, construction started on Rockland’s Old County Road. Updates for the project, which has a completion deadline of August 8, can be found on the Rockland Public Works Department Facebook page. A few appointments are still available for the AARP Tax Aide program at the library. Officers assisted with a motor vehicle crash in Rockport when Rockport officers were busy with another incident. The Public Works department found safety hazards at the Recreation Center, and the nominee of this year’s poet laureate has been decided, though not publicly named.

Read the entire City Manager’s Report below.

OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER

 This week was largely back office administration and once again doesn’t sound very glorious when delivered in the weekly manager’s report. Most of the time was attributed to the final adjustments to the operating and capital budget. The draft budget is complete, as it applies to the actual numbers and actions. In the last week and a half, staff and I will finish articulating the issues and considerations that are attributed to the budget. It is my intention that the budget is strategic, articulate, and fiscally responsible. The budget period is the ideal time to talk about the costs of service and how to make adjustments to that service. In the past, budget deliberation has been a time where the city has made large adjustments to our service delivery and that has added stress to the organization and the community.

 Included with this report is a memo to the City Council regarding the options that the city should consider regarding solid waste and recycling options. The City Council has spent the last few months discussing with stakeholders what the issues are. I believe the city is well positioned to make a good decision. The last component will be the forum with Renew Rockland on Wednesday, April 13th, 2016 at 6 pm. Renew Rockland’s engagement with the community on other issues has proven to be valuable. This partnership on the forum will help narrow down the final components which are the most helpful; community values. I encourage everyone to attend. Based on that meeting, I will confer with the Mayor about a special meeting to address the city’s official position on solid waste options.

 I have spent a lot of time reconciling the project files regarding Main Street streetlights to prepare the city staff for completing this project. Dave St. Laurent, Director of Public Services, will be the project manager. He has already been in touch with the vendor and the Chairman of the Energy Committee. The issues are complicated, and therefore, I appreciate the leadership of the Energy Committee on preparing this project. I am confident that city staff can implement this before the end of the construction season.

 The Code Enforcement Office brought to my attention the timeline to get acceptance of the new Floodplain Ordinance and maps. The city has invested a lot of time and effort in making sure these maps were edited with special consideration to the City of Rockland. It is important that we get them considered for approval prior to July. I spoke with the Mayor about adding this to the agenda for Monday.

 The Director of Public Services and I are working on a possible spring clean-up idea. The cost and efficiencies that we discussed regarding the program are real. The stress on the citizens with the immediate elimination of the program is also real. We are considering a very disciplined two week program that has more rules to provide efficiency and realistic implementation. This will be a test program for the continuance of fall clean-up and further consideration of spring clean-up.

The Public Services Department is extremely capable. I know that they can execute a program with different rules to control costs.

OFFICE OF THE FINANCE DIRECTOR

 Another very busy week has come and gone.

 As most everyone is aware by now, I have accepted a position with the town of Camden as their new finance director. If not for my friend, Camden’s assessor, I might not have been aware of this opportunity. I certainly didn’t take the job here in Rockland thinking I would only be here just a few months.

 In an effort to ensure a smooth transition, the newly appointed interim finance director – Wanda Harvey and I have been reviewing some of the duties that she will be assuming in the very near future. Laurie Smith - the accounts payable and billing specialist – will also be taking on some added responsibilities, thereby helping Wanda and the department overall. I have been very fortunate in working with both Wanda and Laurie. We have developed a team that works very well together. They are both tremendous assets to the city’s financial operations. I have enjoyed working with them both, and will miss them. But, they will continue to serve the city well and I leave the city in good hands. I won’t be far away however, and I’ve told Wanda and Laurie both that I will be available for support, questions, or any assistance they might need in the future. We will continue to maintain our professional relationship, for which I am extremely grateful.

 Having said that, I’ll still be around for a few more weeks. And there is still much to do in preparation for the annual municipal budget. Wanda and I met with the city manager and the assistant city manager in an effort to further scrutinize the budget proposed for the coming year. Further changes were made, items were added, and discussions surrounded the city’s long-term capital infrastructure needs. The budget is scheduled to be presented to the city council on April 20th.

We will be putting the final touches on the budget over the next week. I’m hopeful that the council and the citizens of the community will find this year’s budget proposal to be easy to read, provides a considerable amount of information, and will tell the story of Rockland’s financial needs both immediately and in the future. I wish everyone a successful budget review season.

 Also this week, the preliminary paperwork for the Old County Road bond was signed and forwarded to bond counsel. This paperwork and opinion of bond counsel is due by April 11th. The next part of this process is for the MMBB to obtain pricing on the bonds, followed by the actual sale of the bonds. Final loan paperwork from the city via bond counsel will be due by May 17th. The loan closing date is May 25th; and funds will be available on May 26th.

 Earlier this week I completed the “360 Reviews” of my peers. This is a process whereby each department head gets to anonymously review and rate fellow department heads’ job performances through an on line review form. I’m sure the results will be very interesting to us all. The idea behind a “360 Review” is to give participants feedback that will help them learn their strengths and weaknesses. It can also be used as a management tool to help managers become more effective.

 Banking Requests for Proposals were sent out late last week. RFP responses are due on Tuesday, April 12th. We anticipate making a decision on the bank best suited to manage the city’s bank accounts no later than the 15th of April. If a new bank is selected, the transition process will begin before the end of the month.

Our goal is to select a bank that provides the best banking solutions, guarantees the highest possible rate of interest on account balances; charges the least amount of fees; and can provide local service to the city.

 I’ve also done an analysis on the city’s third quarter financials. 88.23% of taxes due for the year have been collected. Expenses were at 76.04% and revenues were at 75.31%, which appears to be on track. However, during this fourth quarter of the FY 16 fiscal year careful attention needs to be made to expenses overall. A complete copy of the analysis is available on request.

 And lastly, the cash flow – as everyone might expect – is doing very well with just over $6 million in the bank. However, until grant funds and the bond money becomes available in late May the city’s general fund will be used to pay expenses for the Old County Road project. Because the Old County Road project is underway with an aggressive time line for project completion the cash flow will decrease somewhat in the next few months; but it can be managed at this point in time. Everyone is looking to have the Old County Road project be a success, and it appears to be off to a great start.

OFFICE OF THE FIRE CHIEF

Over the preceding week, in addition to the response to 35 Fire and EMS calls, conducting apparatus checks, daily cleaning, routine repairs and maintenance to the fleet and of the quarters, the following occurred:

 John Root and I conducted three license inspections Friday.

 All three shifts trained on Rapid Intervention concepts and skills.

 I met with Mary MacMaster of the Fire Marshal’s Office to discuss Thursday’s fire on Commercial St. She will be working with Det. Neal on this case.

 Bill Butler and I conducted a walk-through of the 250 Main Hotel with the project manager and new Hotel Manager. It appears things are well on track for their opening with a final inspection scheduled for the end of the month.

 Finished the final five 360 evaluations of the department head peer group.

 Conducted an inspection of The Pearl with ACEO Butler.

 I attended the Knox County Regional Communications Executive Board and User Group meetings on Thursday afternoon.

 Updated our Mass Casualty Incident ambulance aid plan to reflect changes in locally available resources. This plan establishes preset guidelines for where and when we receive ambulances so that first arriving personnel do not have to concentrate on where needed assets are requested from. This is a living document that can change as necessary one or more times a year based on the availability of equipment and staffing throughout the area.

OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR

 I attended the Department Heads meeting.

 Keith Drago hosted the Monday evening Drop-in Tech Help. The highest number of requests for help involve tablets, with laptops being the next most popular issue.

 Keith is also working his way through a small list of assignments “before you go”.

 Catinka Knoth’s Children’s Art Class created fairy-tale paper cutouts. Due to the delayed opening on Monday, no Adult Art class was held this week.

 An on week for LegoTM Club, this week’s theme was “critters and beasts.”

 Doreen French and I met to discuss and work on naming conventions for the Treeno system of digital cabinets, a work in progress.

 Ms. Jean was back for Wednesday Storytime this week; treated the children to a variety of poetic expression in hopes of forming an attraction to “the rhyme”. Our newest poetry book is “Listen to Our World” by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Rockport’s Melissa Sweet. In this the children mimicked the sounds of eagles soaring, crocodiles snapping, lions roaring...Next Ms. Jean shared Animal Tracks: Wild Poems to Read Aloud, by Charles Ghigna, Sheep in a Jeep, by Nancy Shaw and Poem-Mobiles: Crazy Car Poems, by Patrick Lewis. The craft centered on the last poetry book with kids constructing their own Poem-Mobiles, assisted by parents who guided their little ones. Participants are continuing to make new acquaintances within the group.

 I worked on and completed additional 360 performance evaluations.

 I participated in the review process of the Budget Narrative.

 The annual AARP Tax Aide, free income tax filing assistance, from trained volunteers is winding down for the year; there were at last count, a few appointments left.

 The Committee to select the new Rockland Poet Laureate, consisting of Mayor MacLellan-Ruf, current Poet Laureate Carol Bachofner, poet and artist Alan Clark and I, met and confirmed X to be the Rockland Poet Laureate for the next two years. X will participate in the Swarm of Poets, where she/he will be presented with a certificate. The new office holder will be so proclaimed by the Mayor during the April 28 Poetry Swarm, the culminating event for Poetry Month Rockland!

 The Thursday evening Arts & Cultural Event was a Travel Talk & Slide Show: A Walk Across the United States. On October 1, 2014 Nora Croix, 47 year old mother of two grown children and former literature teacher from Southern California, turned her back to the Pacific and literally walked away from the places, people and life that she'd always known. She sold her house, sold or gave away most of her possessions, left behind her career and friends and started walking. This program was particularly well-attended, with calls asking if we would have it again, from a couple of people who could not attend.

 On Saturday, Jessie Blanchard and Mary Jane Martin led a very special Poetry Month Storytime! They read poems from Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky and more...then kids were able to try their hands at assembling their own poems!

Kids were also welcome to join in the reading!

Reminder: Jessie Blanchard and Keith initiated a bookmark contest for children and teens to celebrate National Library Week. Bookmarks will be accepted through Saturday. Library patrons will vote on their favorite bookmark throughout next week, AKA National Library Week. The winning bookmark will be printed and given out here at the library! In May, one of the Thursday Evening Arts & Cultural Events will be a program on the relocation to Ecuador by former Rockland Public Library Program Coordinator Steve Donoso.

OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR

 Green Mountain Pipeline Services completed cleaning, testing, and repairs to 600 ft. of 24 inch sewer main that runs through Harbor Park and Police Plaza. This is one of the city’s main sewer interceptor lines. They found 35 pipe joints that would not pass pressure testing and they were sealed using a specialized epoxy injection.

This has been a major source of sea water infiltration into the collection system and causes problems with the operation of the wastewater treatment plant.

 Completed P.M. service on the sludge holding tank aeration blowers.

 Lubricated the motors on R.A.S. pumps #1, #2, & #3.

 Inspected and serviced the bisulfate and caustic transfer pumps to prepare to go back into service in May.

 Completed P.M. service on vortex underflow pump #2.

 Continued investigation into the failing 12” sewer main that runs from Talbot Ave. across the properties at 66 Talbot Ave., 73 Summer St., and 79 Summer St. to connect to the sewer on Summer Street. This pipe connects six properties to city sewer and the portion we have been able to inspect shows the pipe to be in very bad condition. It is collapsed enough to prevent access with the inspection camera. Options are being explored for restoration of the pipe, possibly without excavation.

 Attended the weekly project meeting for the Old County Rd. reconstruction project.

 Responded to numerous calls from contractors regarding sewer connections for two properties on Brewster St. that Habitat for Humanity is planning to build houses on.

 Completed P.M. service on belt press feed pump #2.

 Pulled #7 Pump at Park Street Pump Station due to high temperature alarm.

OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL FISH PIER DIRECTOR

 No permits were issued this week.

 Participated in the Department Head meeting.

 First payment of two on four Lobster Buyer Station, one large herring carrier, and one small herring carrier invoices were sent to the Finance Department for payment through accounts receivable.

 Continued work on peer performance evaluations.

 The price per pound for lobster has increased to just over $6.00 per pound.

OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER

 Bill is happy to report that he again passed his Code Enforcement Officer Certification tests with the State of Maine last week!

 We performed six annual license inspections this week for Victualers and Second-Hand Dealers throughout the City.

 I attended the City Council Agenda Setting meeting on Monday evening.

 I met with two Abatement Specialists regarding the property at 9 Rockland Street. It was determined that the plaster & ceiling tiles are not asbestos, which will save the City thousands of dollars.

 I attended a Department Head Meeting and worked on peer evaluations for much of the day Tuesday.

 We met with the new owner of 10 Leland Street to discuss potential development of the site.

 We met with several people regarding building new houses and garages.

 I met with the team working for the City regarding Harbor Park waterfront development and we discussed various applicable regulations including flood zone.

 I determined that in order to meet the deadline given to the City by FEMA, the adoption of the new Flood Plain Ordinance and Maps must go on the Agenda for the next City Council meeting Monday night. I spent time Thursday preparing the documents and maps for that purpose.

 There were three complaints filed this week: one regarding rats and trash, one regarding mold and disrepair, and one regarding water drainage. Both Bill and I continue to follow up and work on complaint issues within the City.

 A building permit was issued for a new mobile home at 328 Limerock Street.

 Two building permits were issued for altering office spaces at both 91 Camden Street and 105 Maverick Street.

 A building permit was issued for First National Bank to make alterations at 132 Park Street.

 A demolition permit was issued for 65 Tillson Ave.

 Two fence permits were issued at 9 Bunker Street and 14 Payson Lane.

 Bill and I 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:

 7 Building Permits

 4 Plumbing Permits

 4 Electrical Permits

 1 Sidewalk Encumbrance Permit

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE

Officers responded to 274 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to 8 motor vehicle crashes and 4 animal complaints. Forty-nine (49) traffic stops and traffic violations were conducted. Officers charged or made arrests of 10 individuals for various offenses, to include Theft, Traffic offenses, Bail violations, Warrants of Arrest, OUI and Probation violations.

Administration

 DC Young participated on oral boards for dispatch candidates.

 The officers have started 2016 JPMA Mandatory Training. The first half of the training will be complete by June and the second half will be completed by December. The December date is because of the time it takes JPMA to post the new law updates to their website.

 Coordinated an ongoing investigation between Maine Marine Patrol and Rockland C.I.D. This is a joint, ongoing investigation that will require resources from both agencies.

 Worked with Command Staff from the State Fire Marshal’s Officer and Rockland Fire Department to establish protocols for notification of suspected arsons to the State Fire Marshal’s Office. This has been a complicated, convoluted process in the past; however, we think we have come up with a streamlined process to make it easier and improve response time and investigative responsibility between the three agencies.

 Completed the quarterly C.I.T. report as per policy.

 Facilitated a supervisor meeting. Various topics were discussed during this meeting and it was reaffirmed that information from the Command Staff is being delivered to subordinates in a consistent manner.

C.I.D. –

 Currently working a joint investigation with the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

 Currently working a joint investigation with the Maine Marine Patrol.

 Det. Neal conducted hunter safety classes.

Patrol Division –

 Officers assisted Probation & Parole with transporting prisoners to the jail.

 Patrol Officers conducted plain clothes targeted enforcement using unmarked cars in an attempt to combat the rise in burglaries (two burglaries this week).

 Officers conducted building checks, finding several unsecure buildings. RP’s were notified so that the buildings could be secured.

 Officers assisted the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency by finding placement for two minor children whose parents had been arrest in Rockland for drug offenses.

 Officers assisted Thomaston PD with an investigation that included a Rockland residence.

 Officers conducted school visits, meeting with children and staff at all schools in Rockland.

 Officers conducted radar details and building checks on Rockland properties located on Rt. #90.

 Officers responded to and assisted Rockport P.D. with a motor vehicle crash in Rockport. This was a mutual aid request because Rockport Officers were busy with another incident.

 Sgt. Camporiale met with residents at the Methodist Conference Home, to offer senior safety tips.

 Officers conducted radar details at various locations throughout the City including; school zones, Old County Rd., major intersections and on Rt. #90.

 Officers conducted targeted traffic enforcement details focusing on seatbelts.

 Officers conducted bail and probation compliance checks.

 Officers conducted compliance checks of liquor establishments in Rockland.

OFFICE OF THE HARBORMASTER

 Met with owner of floats where fire was reported, verified they were not city owned.

 Met and completed training with Maine State Ferry service in preparation for upcoming Coast Guard inspection.

 Ongoing float repair, depending on weather we anticipate one more week of maintenance then will start preps for launching them a few at a time.

 Met with Cruise Maine and Chamber of Commerce about upcoming cruise ship season.

 Preparing boat for the season.

 Accepting applications for dock stewards until the 18th of this month.

 Working with a vendor on an online application used to map and track moorings, fees, and a variety of other tools to assist with harbor management.

 Monthly department head meeting.

OFFICE OF THE CITY ASSESSOR

 Assessing has received about 200 Business Personal property declaration form returns, about 130 have been processed, scanned and keyed into Vision. I have spoken to about 30 people this week about what to fill out and how, why we require the declaration form, and why they received one—especially in the case of rentals whether yearly or short term rentals, newly identified business entities that have not received a declaration before.

 I have done site visits to 104 First St, 469 Main St, Park St-the old VFW hall. I also did visits to newly reported businesses throughout the city. And I am working thru the 178 permits that are value additions for the city wide valuation.

 I had a “half day” training with Vision which is the assessing software that we use. I will tell you my head was spinning towards the end but what a powerful system we have. I now know the ins and outs of the software and have been using it more fully and with less fear that I will mess something up. What a relief. So as I become more and more proficient, I will become faster at my job which really makes me happy especially in our busy times of the year.

 For the Treeno project, I had a meeting on Wednesday with Amy Levine, our library director. She did research regarding naming conventions for our digital cloud project. What great information she found and we discussed and I am now working with Treeno to establish what we met about. I also had a meeting with Treeno about the structure of the city’s cabinets on Thursday. And we have set another meeting for next week. The scope of this project is huge. I’m working with Dept.Heads, their clerks and admins to glean information to be able to make the digital cloud project user friendly and easy to find their information. We have to translate their current paper and server filing into workable digital cabinets in such a way that shared cabinets can easily be searched by those with appropriate permissions with a file naming convention that tells the story of the document associated to it.

 Dennis Reed, former assessor came in for half a day on Thursday. We went over the charitable and benevolent applications that were delivered to us before April 1 and have approved all three-Life Ministries, Rockland Historical Society-to preserve the birth place of Edna St. Vincent Millay, and CMCA. We also worked thru the valuation of a potential new home on two different sites. He also gave me insights into the city and how values were established historically. It is very helpful to be able to get first-hand knowledge of what went on before me.

OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES DIRECTOR

 Picked up and removed trees and debris from weekend storm.

 Cold patched city wide.

 Picked up trash city wide.

 Due to the heavy winds extra effort was put into picking up litter at landfill.

 Assisted Harbormaster with rebuilding of waterfront floats.

 Built trash receptacle enclosures.

 Cleaned recycle materials building inside.

 Cleaned recreation center lawn and Merritt Park.

 Developed City Park inspection check list that will be carried out weekly on all parks.

 Repaired wall at City Hall.

 Prepped cement trailer for summer projects.

 Removed wings from trucks.

 Repaired fence Main Street by ferry landing.

 Painted repaired wall at City Hall.

 Replaced bricks in sidewalk Union Street.

 Cleaned catch basins before storm.

 Swept city streets and sidewalks.

 Cleaned Winks Place.

 Cleaned shop (housekeeping).

 Sign repair was carried out citywide.

 Roadside litter picked up.

 City lawn repair resulting from winter plowing is ongoing.

 Continued work on RFP for lawn mowing.

 Park tree pruning was performed by the City’s contracted arborist.

 Replaced hydraulic filter on landfill trailer.

 Repaired hydraulic leak on trailer 2.

 Replaced bleeder screws on loader.

 Bleed breaks - adjust parking break.

 Replaced broom on mv sidewalk.

 Replaced blower housing sweeper 18 changed oil filters serviced both engines.

 Replaced tires on cement trailer.

 Picked up waste oil from local business.

 Removed door truck 21 replaced hinges, electric wires and latch.

 Welded plate for dock repair.

 Began developing a spring and fall clean-up schedule proposal which will dedicate specific resources for a defined amount of time for collection in spring and fall.

 Attended a Maine Local Roads training session. Training received will go toward the Roads Scholar Certification.

 Attended the Parks Committee meeting.

 All Employee evaluations, City handbook and Rest break waivers were submitted.

 Researched Winter Street temporary fence and walkway work to be performed for the CMCA grand opening.

 The Recreation Center plywood advertising that exists on the balcony is secured with sharp metal banding which is causing a safety hazard we are investigating what can be put in place to remove the hazard. The men’s shower area subflooring is rotting out and the tiles are coming up. We plan to replace the subfloor that is rotten and re-tile. The cable vision utility was also reconnected.

Old County Road Reconstruction

 Crooker Construction has officially started breaking ground.

 First weekly construction meeting was held Thursday 4/7/16. Currently we are on target for all tasks outlined with the master schedule and the aggressive August 8th completion date. Currently we have excavated 417 cubic yards of material, installed 316 linear feet of underdrain and removed 18 cubic yards of ledge.

 Chris Donlin, the City of Rockland Public Services Assistant Director, is the project resident, and is doing an outstanding job. Chris is documenting the Old County road rebuild and other Public Services City endeavors on the City of Rockland Department of Public Services Facebook page. If you want to see what we are working on around town take a look.

 Just a public awareness notice - in the early goings of the Old County Road job we need to remind Rockland residents that, at the transfer station, the roadway in between the compost pad just past the transfer building and the Pleasant Street entrance is not open to the public. The same goes for the Pleasant Street entrance itself. A lot of material, trucks and equipment are active and there is no room for thru traffic. Please enter and exit from Limerock Street when you visit the Transfer Station.