In the Rockland City Manager’s weekly report, the city manager speaks to the City’s issues with its streetlight project. The assistant manager prepared a grant request for high speed internet. The police department conducted a lockdown drill at Oceanside High School. The code enforcement office met with a contractor to discuss changes to Dairy Queen’s parking lot. The wastewater treatment facilitator responded to a Dig-Safe request on Brewster St. for a utility pole replacement, and Old County Road construction continues to be on target for its August 8th completion date.

Read the entire Rockland City Manager’s Report below.

OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER

 This was a productive week. The agenda setting meeting and discussions with the auditor went well. The administrative staff had a regular department meeting that was productive. The City Council and the Budget Working Group finished the FY17 Operating Budget for consideration on June 27, 2016.

 I met with the Library Director to select candidates for the Library Technician position. We forwarded 10 applicants of the 35 to the Personnel Board for consideration.

 Included with this report is the information that Councilor Geiger asked for, at the Agenda Setting meeting, about the history of streetlights. In the worksheet, I have included all formal references to streetlights that had official action by the City Council. I have also included all references by the Energy Advisory Committee regarding streetlights. There are a few emails that were in my supply that added  additional perspective on the topic of streetlights.

The first email is a summary by Dick Davies, the consultant hired by the three partnering towns explaining the project to me. I thought this was a good synopsis of the project and also demonstrates that the consultant had been agreed to by Councilor Pritchett well before I came into the project. There is another email from Nathan Poore delivering the Rockland third of the consultants costs via invoice. I have included the invoice. The date of the invoice is July 6th. This is less than a month after I was briefed about the project via the previous email. The invoice is included with the email demonstrating the itemized listing of costs.

It should be noted that the expenses date back to November 2013 and Councilor Pritchett was instrumental in direct requests to the consultant prior to my briefing. This should help Councilor Pritchett recall the expenses incurred while dealing with this project. In my opinion, the project was never formally supported by the City Council, never appropriated money, and evaded the internal control measures that control costs in the city.

Some of the week was absorbed by the attention that my letter to the City Council, regarding the City Attorney, garnered. Although my statements in the letter were rather direct I had assumed that the City Council would consider that letter confidential regarding personnel matters, like the Council did with my memo from December 30th, 2015. It seems that Councilor Pritchett thought differently and shared the letter with the press. That’s a shame because it just caused further disruption. It made the city look bad, again, and demonstrated firsthand the friction in the City Council/City Manager relationship. Politicizing issues is not governing.

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

 I have been preparing a report to Council and the Comprehensive Planning Commission regarding inquiries from Rockland businesses interested in expanding or starting a new manufacturing business and how this has been prevented due to the lack of developable industrial land. I have also worked with the Code Enforcement Office to identify potential options to address this issue. Given the full agenda for the June agenda setting meeting, I have requested to put this on as a discussion item for Council’s July agenda setting meeting and the July meeting of Comps.

 I have been preparing a grant application to the Northern Border Regional Commission for funding to help build phase 1 of the proposed high speed broadband network. Even if the Council chooses to not fund this project I thought it would still be worthwhile to put in an application to this program. Applications to the Northern Border Regional Commission tend to get funded after multiple years of applying so it’s wise to apply now if there is any inclination that this project could be a priority for the City in the future.

 The June Harbor Trail meeting was held this Wednesday. The Committee has had a lot of success in raising funding for key parts of the trail and other amenities along the trail. I have been working with Gartley and Dorsky on a very exciting project that will be essential for moving Harbor Trail forward. Many of the details will be finalized within the next few weeks.

OFFICE OF THE FINANCE DIRECTOR

 Monday I attended the Agenda Setting meeting. Our Audit firm James W. Wadman presented our FY15 Audit. This proved to be a favorable audit. We have been able to eliminate numerous findings that have haunted the city for years. What was particularly interesting is the GASB 68 Pension Plan disclosures; Maine Employees Public Retirement System, (MEPERS). The audit now includes what the City’s liability would be for the plan. More information can be obtained in the FY15 audit.

 Kara has been busily working and learning new aspects in Payroll. She is also doing double duty as the elections are coming up on Tuesday June 14th.

 Laurie has started tackling our EMS reconciliations. This is a new task assigned to her, one that I think she will rise to.

 Department Heads met this week; we discussed various topics associated with each department pertaining to their duties and ongoing tasks.

 Budget deliberations wrapped up this week with the Council approving the FY17 preliminary budget. A lot of work was put into this budget by the budget working group. I would like to thank our City Manager Jim Chaousis II, Audra Caler-Bell, Dave St. Laurent, Amy Levine, Adam Miceli, Bruce Boucher, and Doreen French for all the hard work that went into this. I would also like to thank Virginia Lindsey for putting together an exceptional budget. This is a user friendly budget, one that is easy to make changes to. This enabled the Council to see what impact their suggestions had on the overall budget. The FY17 Budget adoption is scheduled for June 27th.

 I continue to work on the Budget, inputting the FY17 numbers into our software system. As well as entering the changes to the chart of accounts. I am also preparing for the first payroll in July. Many functions need to be updated in our software system (Munis) prior to entering anything for the new fiscal year.

 We are completing the last of the paperwork to transition over to our new bank The First. This is an ongoing process, as the City receives many electronicpayments from different vendors and banks. Training is being set up for remote capture. Remote deposit capture (RDC) is a system that allows a customer to scan checks remotely and transmit the check images to a bank for deposit, usually via an encrypted Internet connection.

 That’s it for the week.....there is more budget work to be done.

OFFICE OF THE LIBRARY DIRECTOR

 Catinka Knoth’s Adult Drawing class featured Hummingbirds & Rhododendron; the Children’s class concentrated on themes of summer activities and visits to the seashore.

 Children’s Librarian Jean Young had a follow-up meeting with staff from the Children’s Museum regarding collaborative programming events this summer.

 We are grateful to the Public Services Department for the seasonal return of the umbrella and chairs for the Children’s Garden, and for replacing the State Flag on the flagpole.

 Tuesday we hosted the monthly Destination Wellness Talk. June’s topic was Medical Marijuana: Current Knowledge and Controversies. Dr. Lauren Ball spoke about the use of cannabis as a medication. She reviewed the history of medical cannabis, discussed how the active compounds work in the body and how it may be effective in relieving a variety of symptoms associated with different types of diseases. Both the medical benefits and possible negative aspects were discussed.

 We held a staff meeting on Wednesday morning, and committed to holding them regularly on this day (the one day a week when all full-time staff are scheduled to be here in the morning.

 In preparation for replacing the ancient PC which supports the public computers patron access and scheduling, Don Fowles upgraded the PC Reservation software through two versions. Patron access was impacted for a few hours in the morning but was less of a delay than we anticipated.

 Today was Old MacDonald Day during Wednesday Storytime, with Judith Andersen as reader. Several songs, stories, felt board characters, and magic marker artistry all addressed this theme. Ms. Judy read Old MacDonald, retold by Amy Schwartz, Down by the Barn, by Will Hillenbrand, The Farmer in the Dell, illustrated by Pam Adams, and A Pig Parade is a Terrible Idea, by Michael Ian Black.

 I met with the City Manager to bring him up to date on Library projects and open issues; we also made great progress with the hiring process for the open Library position. I am excited to see this moving along, and look forward to adding another great member to the Library team.

 Along with most of the Budget Working Group I attended the last of the budget deliberations leading to preliminary adoption the City Council.

 Thursday was the first single day in a while that we had over 400 visitors. The total of 408 is for the main floor only, as the lower level counter is tallied only monthly, and some program attendees (and others) do use that entrance and exit.

 The Thursday evening Arts & Cultural Event was a talk by Rob McCall of Awanadjo Almanack. This was part of the “Experience Maine” series co-sponsored by Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors. Rob McCall is a naturalist, journalist, and fiddler whose weekly radio commentaries are heard on WERU radio. The written version of Awanadjo Almanack appears in Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors magazine. He is the author of Small Misty Mountain and Great Speckled Bird; his presentation included readings from his published writing, as well as discussion.

 The Friends’ Book, Plant, and Bake Sale was held on Saturday; this is one of the main fund-raisers each year, widely anticipated, and generally a huge labor of love and dedication on the part of past and present Friends’ Board members and volunteers.

 Also on Saturday, the Library hosted Planting the Children’s Garden with Leslie Ferguson, the Library gardener. She demonstrated how to transfer seedlings to the garden plot and discuss what care they will need throughout the summer.

Children were able to assist and then take home plants for their own gardens.

These seedlings are the result of seeds planted during together in February.

Upcoming: Coloring! Third Saturday (June 18) at 10:00 AM; this month participants may color pages from the new book Coloring Maine by Blue Butterfield, and enter to win a book and set of pencils! Also, Peter Neill speaking on The Once and Future Ocean: Notes Toward a New Hydraulic Society.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE

 The officers responded to 248 calls for service. Rockland Police Officers responded to 9 motor vehicle crashes and 6 animal complaints. Forty-four (44) traffic stops and traffic violations were conducted. The officers charged or made 17 arrests of individuals for various offenses, to include, Domestic Assault, Traffic Offenses, Drug Offenses, Warrants of arrest, Weapons violations and OUI.

Administration-

 Department members facilitated and monitored the Physical Agility Test and Written Test to candidates in our hiring process.

 Chief Boucher and members of the City Personnel board interviewed four candidates for Police Officer this past week.

 Chief Boucher and DC Young met with members of Maine Behavioral Health concerning services offered for persons with opiate dependency.

 Chief Boucher attended the Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force meeting this past week.

 DC Young and I completed and submitted the 2016 COPS Grant Application.

 DC Young facilitated and supervised a Lockdown Drill at Oceanside East High School.

 Spoke with members of the Knox County Democrats concerning proposed legislation to require background checks for gun purchasers during private gun sales.

 Coordinated and participated in a supervisors meeting.

Criminal Investigation Division –

 Conducted Sex Offender Compliance Checks on offenders living in Rockland.

 Completed a policy review / re-write of the departments’ evidence control, collection and storage policy.

 Assisted the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency with ongoing intelligence gathering and drug investigations in Rockland.

 Continued investigating open criminal cases in Rockland.

 Participated in the Lockdown Drill at Oceanside East.

Patrol Division –

 Assisted the Rockport Police Department in locating missing property.

 Provided uniform police support to the graduation ceremonies at Oceanside East.

 Conducted downtown foot patrols when weather and staffing allowed. Two downtown businesses were found to be unsecure during these patrols.

 Officer Gaylor is attending the Basic Firearms Instructor Course at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.

 Probationary Officer Cox, continues his Field Training with Field Training Officer Solorzano.

 Officers assisted with the annual Memorial Day Parade.

 Officers concluded the annual grant funded seatbelt enforcement details.

 Officer Bagley assisted the Maine Marine Patrol in re-locating a stranded seal pup.

 Officers provided escorts to various banks within the city so they could fill outside ATM’s.

 Officers assisted with a lockdown drill at Oceanside East.

 Officers conducted school visits at all schools in Rockland. The purpose of these visits was to interact with students and staff and to address any problems they may be experiencing.

 Officers conducted foot and bicycle patrols around the Main St. areas as weather and staffing allowed.

 Officers conducted bail and probation compliance checks on offenders residing in Rockland.

 Officers conducted targeted traffic enforcement details at various locations throughout the city including Main St. and school zones.

Traffic Officer/ACO-

 This week Traffic Officer Peasley organized the Mid-coast Leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run.

 Wednesday morning June 8th members of the Rockland PD, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, Maine State Police, Maine State Prison, United States Coast Guard, District Attorney’s Office, along with 11 local Special Olympic athletes ran united and carried the torch (or Flame of Hope) through Rockland.

 ACO has been searching for a possible rabid skunk in the upper Limerock Street and Talbot Avenue area.

OFFICE OF THE CITY ASSESSOR

 The personal property and BETE review and processing continues.

 Worked with Dennis on several projects, a review of the upcoming BOAR hearing, OSJ 706 request and many other items to get ready for commitment.

 Wrote up “How to’s “for future reference.

 Met with several taxpayers regarding their assessments.

 Set several meetings to visit properties.

 Site visit to 24 Lincoln Street and connected the Orchid LLC manager with Audra Caler-Bell to work on business ideas.

 Attended budget meeting.

OFFICE OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER

 John Root is still on vacation until June 20th as he has gone to the mid-west for his grandson’s graduation.

 Bill reminded businesses on Main Street that the minimum flag height is 7 feet according to City ordinance.

 Bill met with a contractor to discuss changes to Dairy Queen’s parking lot.

 Bill met with a resident to discuss possible developments to his Mountain View Extension property.

 Bill was present for the blitz build of Habitat for Humanity’s 30 Brewster Street new single-family dwelling and performed inspections throughout the building process.

 We issued a residential building permit for an addition with a new bath and deck.

 Bill performed a Certificate of Occupancy inspection for Rockland Harbor Hotel at 520 Main Street in conjunction with the Fire Department.

 Bill performed a Certificate of Occupancy and lodging facility license inspection in conjunction with the Fire Department for Rockland Talbot House.

 Bill performed lodging facility license renewal inspection in conjunction with the Fire Department this week for Berry Manor Inn at 81 Talbot Avenue.

 There were 8 complaints filed this week. Four were regarding tall grass, one regarding City clean-up of 9-15 Rockland Street property, one regarding unreadable signs, one regarding water drainage, and one regarding culvert installation. Bill continues to follow up and work on complaint issues within the City, including follow up inspections on Forrest Avenue.

 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:

o 1 Building Permit

o 7 Electric Permits

o 2 Sidewalk Display Permits

o 3 Sidewalk Tables & Chairs Permits

o 1 Sign Permit

o 1 Street Excavation Permit

OFFICE OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DIRECTOR

 Cleaned and inspected the influent bar screen.

 Repaired the supply piping for the hydronic unit heater in the vortex pump room.

 Adjusted the belt tension on the #2 belt filter press.

 Cleaned and reset the level sensing probe at the Waldo Ave. pump station.

 Weekly inspection and testing of the 10 pump stations.

 Fabricated and installed a new check valve support on the grit removal system.

 Replaced the discharge valve for the pump down piping in the west chamber of the effluent chlorine contact tank.

 Worked with Interstate Septic Systems to clean and pump the wet well at the Glenwood Ave. pump station.

 Replaced the batteries and calibrated the flow meter at the north end of the 24 inch sewer main in Harbor Park.

 Used G.P.S. to record the location of sewer service laterals installed to date on the new Old County Rd. sewer main and enter the data into the G.I.S.

 Inspected a new sewer lateral on 190 Broadway.

 Responded to an emergency Dig-Safe request from C.M.P. for a broken utility pole.

 Installed a second flow meter and set up remote monitoring in the Harbor Park sewer main to monitor and record flows entering the pipe at the north end.

 Responded to a Dig-Safe request on Brewster St. for a utility pole replacement.

 Began CCTV inspection of the sewer main on Tea Street.

 Repaired the control cable for the mainline pipe inspection camera.

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

 The following tests were performed on the above composite samples throughout the week: 36 TSS tests, 26 BOD tests, 10 Nitrate tests, 5 Nitrite tests, 5 Ammonia tests, 5 COD tests, 5 Settleable Solids tests

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

 The following tests were performed on the above grab samples this: 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, 7 fecal coliform tests

 BOD & TSS testing for North Haven.

 Performed E coli testing for a sample collected on Ocean St.

 Continued testing for yearly DMR-QA testing for Maine DEP.

 Reviewed draft permit with Wright Pierce.

 Reviewed draft permit with Jim Crowley from DEP.

 CSO events occurred Sunday and Monday

 Maximum flow through CSO structure was 27.3 MGD

 Average flows through secondary treatment were 2.8MGD

OFFICE OF THE FIRE CHIEF

City Manager’s Weekly Report

Over the preceding 2 weeks, in addition to the response to 88 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:

 The month of June we have FF Cole focusing on health and safety of our firefighters. The crews have all undergone a personal physical assessment with a workout program directed at increasing overall health and performance within the job. Nutritionists and other healthcare professionals have volunteered their time in order to keep us in a healthy lifestyle.

 Fire Chief Chris Whytock started his new job with the department on June 1st. Chris has been with the department for over 17 years and will be working on the transition from firefighter to fire chief.

 Along with Chief Whytock’s promotion, FF Ben Mullane is starting his new position moving from one of our two EMS only positions into the FIRE/EMS division. Ben has been with the department for a little over 2 years and had all the qualifications needed to make the lateral transfer. Ben is currently assigned to C-shift.

 EMS crews were on standby for both the Senior Inspiration as well as Graduation for the Oceanside Class of 2016. Congratulations and good luck in your futures!

 C-shift performed maintenance on both Car 1 and Utility 3. Car 1 required an oil change and safety inspection while Utility 3 needed some welding done to a passenger door.

 Lt. Johnson and members of B-shift replaced our dishwasher in the kitchen. The old dishwasher was donated to us, second hand, and could no longer be fixed.

 Chief Whytock, Assistant Chief Miceli, and FF. Barnard all attended a HR and Management seminar at Thomas College. Classes were given on negotiation practices, hiring the right candidates, retirement funding, and best management skills and practices. All the classes were very informative.

OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES DIRECTOR

 Completed and submitted the sand, salt and stone RFP.

 Began the program building for the Time Force time accounting system, we made good progress and should have this done and working before the end of the Month.

 Completed final inspection of the CMCA work.

 Scheduled Environmental Projects Inc. to conduct a Hazardous Waste Collection Day on 6/25/16. Renew Rockland is assisting with the educational information and volunteer outreach.

 Worked on repair of road washouts.

 Placed order for Voter Approved Sand and Salt building.

 Performed elevation survey of the North cell in the landfill and began final lift.

 Worked on complete cleaning and repainting of the boathouse at Chickawaukie lake.

 Watered downtown flowers and newly seeded lawn repair.

 City wide road painting is being conducted as well as training on roadside painting.

 Removed downed tree limbs at Talbot Avenue, Suffolk Street and behind the Thorndike.

 Adjusted breaks on vehicle #4.

 Fabrication and replaced the internal components of the vactor truck tank.

 Replaced the hydraulic cylinders of the D5M Bulldozer.

 Mowed lawns around town and at the transfer station.

 Began removing weeds between the curb, sidewalk and street.

 Completed berm around the dewatering pad at the landfill.

 Picked litter at the transfer station.

 Completed trash pickup city wide.

 Continued street sweeping city wide.

 Installed the two City of Rockland gateway signs.

 Repaired swings at playground.

 Ordered mulch for playgrounds.

 Conducted Sandy Beach sampling, posted beach due to high rains.

 Trimmed walkway on harbor trail.

 Finished up culvert work on Traverse Street, we still need to pave but will wait until July 1.

 Attended budget meeting as part of the budget working group.

 Holophane has received the order from CED/Gilman Electrical Supply, the order specifications were reviewed again and confirmed.

 Worked out the arrangements for the cleaning of the Chickawaukie lake boathouse.

 Began FAQ’s for webpage.

 Old County Road:

o Fairpoint and CMP have been notified that we are waiting for the completion of the utility line transfer.

o The waterline laterals that were horizontally drilled into granite made excavation a bit more difficult but no lines were damaged during new excavation.

o Sewer line from Rankin to Acorn Cemetery inspection is ready.

o Box cut and sewer installation continue from JC Park to Route 17.

o Cleanup and loaming has begun.

o The sixth weekly construction meeting was held Thursday 6/9/16. We continue to be on target for all tasks outlined with the master schedule and the August 8th completion date.