In the Rockland City Manager’s Report for the week ending May 13, the assistant city manager writes of city-owned light fixtures, as well as the goals of the energy committee. Ten building permits were issued. Chlorination of the treatment plant begins May 15. The new fire chief started learning administrative tasks, and docks were placed at the public landing.

Read the entire City Manager’s Report below.

OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER

(On medical leave)

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER/ECONOMIC & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

 Since the city is working so hard on professional integrity and fiscal responsibility, we are, of course, deeply concerned about any possible procurement irregularities. I want to assist the City Council in every way possible to help straighten this out.

To this end I have found 3 invoices (attached) from the law firm Jensen Baird Gardiner & Henry totaling $4,781.46 for Rockland’s involvement with Falmouth, South Portland and Biddeford in the rule making process that would allow municipalities to own and maintain streetlight fixtures.

To be clear, these are separate costs from the $11,002.37 already paid to the City of Falmouth. I have also been in contact with the Town of Falmouth regarding Rockland’s involvement in this project. Falmouth has indicated there are two more outstanding invoices for this project which Rockland will need to pay. They have provided me with one of these invoices for $1,814.95, which is also included in the attachment to this report.

I will be seeking direction from the City Council regarding funding for this project because the City Clerk and City Attorney have not found any orders or resolves that authorize the City to financially contribute to this effort with Falmouth, South Portland and Biddeford. Because of confusion between this project and the Downtown streetlight project the $15,783.83 in invoices from the City of Falmouth and Jensen Baird have been paid with funding designated for the Downtown Streetlight project. Therefore, it is likely there will be a shortfall of nearly $20,000 in funding available for the Downtown streetlight project. I have discussed this with the Finance Director and we have recommendations for how Council may be able to resolve this and avoid any potential issues with the auditors.

In speaking with Falmouth’s Town Manager I was informed they have engaged a consultant for the next phase of this project, which entails the four communities undertaking the engineering work required to design and implement community-wide street light enhancements and conversions to LED fixtures. While Rockland was included in this RFP (which is attached to the report) the City is by no means obligated to participate.

However, I believe this may be an opportune time for the City Council, City Staff and community to develop a better understanding of Cr Pritchett and the Energy Committee’s goal. If everyone can be brought on the same page, a much more informed and collaborative decision can be made regarding the City’s potential further participation in this project.

We’ve already made a significant financial contribution to this effort and further participation is going to require a much more significant financial commitment from Rockland. I would recommend at some point the Council have a workshop with the Energy Committee to get a briefing on the background of this project, key to which will be the cost benefit analysis that led the City to get to this point and will be essential for determining a way forward. This discussion will be important for providing Staff with direction on the City’s desired participation in the next phases of this project.

 At the request of the Council I have been following up on finalizing contracts with Woodard & Curran and SMRT for services they provided in the development of the Power Generation Ordinance. Because Council has authorized expenditure by the City Manager, I have attached the scope of service agreements for your information.

 I am very excited to report that the City of Rockland has been invited by the Department of Economic and Community Development to apply for a $100,000 Safe Neighborhood Program Grant. The Police Department, Connie Putnam from the Knox County Community Health Coalition and I worked on a proposal for a program to holistically address impacts associated with opiate ddiction. The State received our proposal last Friday and asked us on Monday to submit a full application, which is very promising. We will be scheduling the public hearing and order from Council regarding the City’s participation for Council’s agenda setting meeting on June 6th.

 Inspections for the Phase 1 Assessments of the former Junkyard at 9-15 Rockland Street were conducted on Thursday of this week. I was informed by Ransom Consulting that as part of our Brownfields funding we can have a structural engineer look at the building on 9 Rockland Street to determine the level of renovation required.

 I met with the Harbor Trail Committee at their monthly meeting where we discussed a capital fundraising campaign. The Committee has been incredibly successful in raising significant amounts of funding to complete key segments of the trail. While details of this are forthcoming I would like to thank members of the committee for their hard work and dedication. I’m hopeful that by this time next year Harbor Trail will really start to take shape.

OFFICE OF THE FINANCE DIRECTOR

 Kara and I worked on Surveys this week. Kara has completed the Knox County Survey, the US Census Survey and the MMA Salary Survey. She is working very hard and realizing that there are more responsibilities to the Payroll Specialists job than just processing payroll.

 Kara received training on the new document management system earlier this week. Once documents are saved to the system they can be accessed by other users, depending on user access considerations. This will save time from having to create multiple files throughout city offices; will mean less duplication; less usage of paper; and is a smarter way to make sure that everyone has access to the same information.

 Laurie has sent out our payables for the middle of the month, we are back on a schedule paying the 15th of the month and the last day of the month. This coincides with much of the due dates for the vendors. This schedule also helps with our monthly reconciliations.

 In preparation of our weekly Budget Deliberations, I worked up for the Council what the cost savings would be in not adding the Volunteer Coordinator position to the budget. Although, the Council did not request this information I felt it would be advantageous to have in the event they wanted to know.

Budget deliberations went very well this week. We managed to make it through the operating budget. The conversations revolved around the Landfill closure, Harbor Park improvements, and the much needed work on the Library. I have completed working on the Council Budget, and am ready for their recommendations.

 I am continuing to work on putting together the list of employees for our yearly Video Display Terminal training, as well as Sexual Harassment training for Laurie Bouchard.

 At this time, I am starting the process of entering our FY17 Budget into our Munis Software. This will take a little longer than expected. There are numerous General Ledger number changes that have to be made first in preparation of entering the final budget. Although, this is time consuming I feel the changes are actually corrections that are much needed. This will enable us to better track expenses, revenues, and pass-through fees such as State Fees for registrations.

 The final bond certificates have been completed and sent to bond counsel for the Old County Road Bond. We are awaiting our closing on the 25th of May; with funds available on the 26th.

OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR

 The Adult Art classes drew frogs, lily ponds, herons, and egrets, while the Children’s class drew May flowers. These classes are led by Catinka Knoth, and open to the public—no previous experience is required.

 Once again, Judith Andersen was the guest reader for Wednesday Storytime.

Attendees were exceptionally attentive to the They read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, I’ll Catch You if You Fall, by Mark Sperring, Pajama Time!, by Sandra Boynton, and Bringing the Outside In, by Mary McKenna Siddals. The craft used the theme of the last title. Jean Young provided colorful pictures of an empty lawn and garden along with a sheet of stickers (flowers, vegetables, etc.) with which the kids could create their own family play space.

 We received an inspection report from the State with regard to the elevator; there were a couple of minor violations noted, which I felt should have been addressed during our recent service visit, and Otis sent our service Tech back to remedy those; Otis will also send the report to the State in ample time for the Library’s annual license renewal.

 Along with the rest of the Budget Working Group I attended the third session of budget deliberations by the City Council. This week’s conversation included the Library.

 Thursday afternoon, local artist Cindy McGuirl led a Bookbinding Workshop for children. All materials were provided. Participants made wonderful hard cover books where small sketches, secret thoughts, and favorite things can be recorded. As many parents participated and made books as kids; the excellent quality of the supplies helped ensure beautiful results.

 The Thursday evening Arts & Cultural Event was an author talk on Weathering Shame, an autobiography penned by two well respected professionals, the married couple Kevin Mannix and Linda Rota. Mr. Mannix had a great turnout (over 50 in the audience) and spoke of their life experiences, the struggles encountered, lessons learned, feelings of shame, and the stigma that resulted from growing up exposed to alcoholism, severe depression, and suicide. Books were available for purchase and signing by the co-author.

 Thanks very much to Public Services staff for taking care of some items at the Library—light bulbs needed replacing, and the lower level door was hesitating rather than closing in a timely manner. As this is a fire door, I want to be certain it functions as it should.

OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR

 Employees worked with Interstate Septic Systems to clean and pump the wetwell at the Waldo Ave. pump station.

 Scheduled preventive maintenance was performed on the grit pump, the #2 secondary clarifier gear reducers, hydraulic power unit for the gravity belt thickener and the #2 Belt Filter Press hydraulic power unit.

 Protection Professionals located and repaired a fault in the security system for the sludge trailer bay that was triggering the alarm system.

 The portable pressure washer was repaired.

 The Influent Bar Screen was cleaned and inspected.

 Reversing switches for the pumps at the Industrial Park pump station were installed. Installation of the switches will facilitate reversing the pump rotation when blockages occur.

 Worked with CUES Inc. and Don Fowles from Computer Casualties to complete the transfer and updates of the G.I.S. and pipeline inspection software and files onto the new G.I.S. computer.

 Began CCTV inspection of the sewer main on Willow St. east of Broadway.

 Recorded the locations with G.P.S. of the sewer laterals completed to date by the contractor on the Old County Rd. project to be entered into the G.I.S.

 2 employees attended training in Fairfield on the subject of operation and maintenance of the sewer jetter/vac truck.

 Environmental Technicians continued CCTV inspection of the sewer main on the east end of Cedar Street.

 Continued to work on the implementation of a Computerized Maintenance Management System for the treatment plant. The system will be put into use in 3rd quarter of this year and should be fully operational by years end.

 The chlorination of the treatment plant effluent will begin on May 15th. This treatment is required under the terms of the plants discharge license between the dates of May 15th and October 1st. The chlorination and de-chlorination systems were placed in operation this week and based on lab analysis of wastewater samples the systems are performing satisfactorily.

 City and plant staff met with representatives from Wright Pierce and FMC on Thursday to review the results of the Industrial Impact Wastewater Study, local limits, the cities pending discharge permit and FMC’s pending Industrial Discharge permit.

 Composite samples taken during the week were: Municipal Influent, Aeration Basin Influent, Secondary Effluent, FMC Effluent, CSO Influent, CSO Effluent.

 The following tests were performed on the above composite samples: 27 TSS tests, 15 BOD tests, 10 Nitrate tests, 5 Nitrite tests, 5 Ammonia tests, 5 COD tests and 5 Settleable Solids tests

 Grab samples collected during the week were: Aeration Basins, Municipal Influent, Primary Effluent, Secondary Effluent, Chlorine Contact Chamber, Hypo Pump

 The following tests were performed on the above grab samples throughout the week: 26 TSS tests, 25 VSS tests, 5 Phosphorous tests, 5 Microscopic evaluations, 18 Settleable Solids tests, 18 pH tests, 17 conductivity tests, 30 Cl2 tests, 5 fecal coliform tests

 Lab reports were prepared and sent to North Haven.

 DMR and DEP49 forms were prepared and submitted to the Maine DEP.

 Average flows through secondary treatment were 3.1Million Gallons Per day.

OFFICE OF THE CITY ASSESSOR

 Review of personal property declarations submitted. Reviewed BETE applications.

Dawn has emailed or snail mailed initial copies of reviewed accounts.

 Several meetings regarding upcoming case for abatement of taxes.

 Dennis was in for an all-day session.

OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER

 Bill was interviewed on Tuesday by Village Soup TV regarding changes taking place at 215 Cedar Street. There have also been many inquiries by newspapers regarding the same.

 We issued building permits this week for a change of use from a restaurant to a retail establishment for Curator at 385 Main Street, and for office alterations at 582 Main Street. We issued residential building permits for two fabric structures, four decks, foundation work, an addition, and demolition of a shed.

 We performed one annual victualer’s license inspection.

 I met with the owner of 19 Rockland Street after sending him a dangerous building notice. The owner will be closing up all openings in the structure this weekend and then providing plans regarding demolition or rehabilitation of the structure.

 There were 8 complaints filed this week. Five of these were regarding excess junk and unkempt properties, two were regarding unpermitted decks, and one was regarding unsafe living conditions. We continue to follow up and work on complaint issues within the City.

 The condemned residence at 8 Washington Street which was filled with raw garbage has been cleaned up by a family member of the deceased owner.

 Clean up of trash and rubbish at 29 Broad Street has begun by the property management company.

 A Planning Board Site Plan Review application was received for a proposed parking lot for 250 Main Hotel which will be located at 6 Union Street.

 We 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:

 10 Building Permits

 1 Plumbing Permit

 6 Electrical Permits

 1 Street/Sidewalk Encumbrance Permit

 2 Sewer Connection Permits

 1 Street Excavation Permit

OFFICE OF THE FIRE CHIEF

 Over the preceding week, in addition to the response to 44 Fire and EMS calls, shift training, conducting apparatus checks, daily cleaning, routine repairs and maintenance to the fleet and of the quarters, the following occurred:

 Friday morning we conducted our bi-weekly officers meeting and welcomed incoming Fire Chief Chris Whytock. We hope to be able to bring Chris up to speed with many of the “behind the scenes” issues the staff officers deal with on a routine basis.

 I spent some time Monday answering numerous code questions for different people regarding various topics. There must have been something in the air over the weekend.

 Monday afternoon I participated in an interactive webcast on leading combination fire departments (those like ours who have both career and call personnel).

 Monday evening a large percentage of the Fire & EMS department attended the beginning of the City Council meeting to witness Chris Whytock’s confirmation as our next Fire Chief.

 Tuesday I met with the project supervisor and electrical contractor to conduct a fire alarm test and walk through of CMCA.

 Asst. Code Officer Bill Butler and I inspected Rocko’s Taco’s a food “truck” opening up later this month in Buoy Park.

 Also on Tuesday I attended the web-based Treeno electronic filing system instruction meeting at City Hall.

 I worked an overtime shift Wednesday to cover sick leave. Thankfully this aligned well with already my scheduled activities at the station for the day and prevented someone from being forced to work to cover the vacancy.

 Wednesday evening’s drill was on apparatus placement and hose line deployment.

 I attended and participated in the Council’s Budget Review Wednesday evening.

OFFICE OF THE HARBORMASTER

 Public landing docks are installed.

 Utilities will be worked on next week for the floating docks.

 Commenced painting the Harbor Master’s Building.