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They are linked as Flash presentations to minimize file size and speed up web delivery. The Flash will run with the timings set by the presenter or every 4 seconds. Each has an "attachment" link in the upper right corner. This will have the original Power Point file and any handout files we have. Please save these to your computer before opening.
Planning for Pandemic Influenza: Are you Prepared?
What are the implications for a municipality and the local business community when personnel resources are depleted during widespread illness? Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention will give an update on what we may expect in coming months and what steps we can take to keep ourselves and those around us healthy. The session will also explore the challenges of keeping municipal government operating while short staffed due to widespread illness.
Presenters: Dr. Dora A. Mills, Director, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Barry Tibbetts, Town Manager, Town of Kennebunk; Nathan Poore, Town Manager, Town of FalmouthEastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and Mosquito Control for Municipalities
EEE is a mosquito-borne viral disease. EEE virus (EEEV) occurs in the eastern half of the United States where it causes disease in humans, horses, and some bird species. Because of the high mortality rate, EEE is regarded as one of the most serious mosquito-borne diseases in the United States. Many persons infected with EEE will have no obvious symptoms. In those persons who do develop illness, symptoms of EEE range from mild-flu like illness to inflammation of the brain, coma and death.
Presenters: Dr. Dora A. Mills, Director, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Gary Fish, Manager, Pesticide Programs, Maine Board of Pesticides Control; Priscilla Matton, Entomologist and Wetlands Coordinator, Bristol County, Massachusetts Mosquito Control Project.Community-Wide Wireless Internet
The Town of Hermon has been an internet provider since 1995. It all started with and continues to be free dial-up internet access to the entire community. As technology changed Hermon.net, as it became to be known, had to adapt. In 2003 Hermon implemented its first generation wireless network that was completely locally implemented and operated. After a few years it grew to our second generation which was a public/private partnership with Redzone Wireless. Currently 100% of the business parks are serviced and residential coverage continues to expand. Internet access in Hermon has brought together the municipality, schools, businesses, and residents for the common goal of better communication infrastructure. It has made all levels of government and the community partners in each others’ success.
Presenter: Clint Deschene; Town Manager, Town of HermonAccepting Payment by Credit Card without Absorbing the Fees (See individual presenters below.)
Would accepting municipal taxes and fees by credit card be a convenience for your citizens? This session will present the changing legal, technological and practical issues associated with local government entities accepting payment by credit card.
Presenters: Donna Katsiaficas, Corporate Counsel and David Kane, Treasurer, Portland Water District; Jim Plunkett, President, Government Payment Processing; Chris Yates, Office Clerk, Town of NorwayAll Hazards: Lessons Learned (See individual presenters below.)
This session will explore challenging incidents that occurred in three Maine communities in 2008. Freeport and Fort Kent experienced flooding that washed out major roads, stranded people and forced evacuations. South Paris confronted a stubborn warehouse fire that burned for days, exhausting fire fighters and resources. These incidents, which called for multiple agencies to respond, could happen anywhere in the State. This session will discuss the commonalities of these incidents, lessons learned in responding to them and what went well in combating them. This session will also introduce Water/ Wastewater Agency Response Network (WARN) which allows water and wastewater systems in Maine to receive rapid mutual aid and assistance from other systems in Maine to restore services damaged by natural or man-made incidents.
Presenters: Lynette C. Miller, Director, Special Projects, Public Information Coordinator, Maine Emergency Management Agency; Don Guimond, Town Manager, Town of Fort Kent; Vernon Ouellette, Director, Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency; Paul Conley, Deputy Fire Chief, Town of Freeport; Ronald Seaman, Freeport Division Aqua Maine, Inc.; Scott Parker, Director, Oxford County Emergency Management Agency; John Storer, Auburn Water District and MEWARN Steering Committee.Shaping Up in Down Times (See individual presenters below.)
In these difficult economic times, are your employees neglecting their physical and emotional health? Are poor fitness and stress contributing to absenteeism, low productivity and increased health care costs? This session will focus on health education in the workplace. Learn about municipalities that have successfully established programs and incentivized employees to use them.
Presenters: Steve Gove, Director, Maine Employee Health Trust; Dale Olmstead, Town Manager, Town of Freeport; Irene Dostie, City of Lewiston; Ruth Marden, Town Manager, Town of JayEconomic Development Tools for Municipalities
This session will focus on how to utilize Tax Increment Financing and Pine Tree Development Zones to promote economic development in your community. Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a tool that allows municipalities to promote economic development by earmarking property tax revenue from increases in assessed values within a designated TIF district for economic development projects and activities. The presentation will also explain the “tax shift benefit” of establishing a tax increment financing district. Pine Tree Zones offer eligible businesses the chance to greatly reduce taxes for up to ten years. The presentation will also discuss the recent expansion of this program which was passed in the most recent legislative session.
Presenters: Amanda Meader and Shana Cook Mueller, Bernstein ShurNational Incident Management System (NIMS): What it Means for Municipal Decision Makers.
What is it, and what does it mean for Maine’s municipalities? Why do key municipal officials need to know about NIMS? Compliance with NIMS, which includes a requirement for adoption of a local ordinance, not only enables effective multi-agency response to incidents common in Maine, such as flooding, it gives municipalities eligibility for federal assistance dollars. Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) will present an overview of NIMS, including a review of its components and actions that you will need to take to be NIMS compliant so that you can position your community to take advantage of federal grant monies.
Presenter: Michael S. Grant, State Training Officer, Maine Emergency Management AgencyDamage Assessment: What is the role of the Building Official?
This session will describe the role of the Code Enforcement Officer/Building Official in the preliminary (Phase I) and long term (Phase II) assessment of damage to structures caused by natural and man-made disasters. It will describe the need for a disaster assessment plan, the process of compiling information needed for your community’s plan, and how you fit in the Disaster Assessment Team.
Presenters: Richard Lambert, Code Enforcement Officer & Building Inspector, City of Saco; Robert C. Bohlmann, Director, York County Emergency Management Agency.GASB Update
This session offers an update on GASB standards, with an emphasis on GASB 54, Fund Balance Reporting and Governmental Fund Type Definitions. The session will answer questions such as: How will governments report fund balance in the future? How will rainy-day amounts be reported? How have definitions of debt service and capital projects been revised? What note disclosures are required by Statement 54? What is the deadline for implementation?
Presenter: Kathleen Tyson, CPA, Principal, Runyon Kersteen Ouellette(RKO)Grant Funding Opportunities for Municipalities (See individual presenters below.)
This session will present information about existing community facilities grants and loans programs. Hear from administrators of the State Agencies through which these monies are distributed to Maine communities. Come with your questions!
Presenters: Mick Rogers, Grants Program Manager, Maine Department of Conservation; Dan Stewart, Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager, Maine Department of Transportation; Mike Baran, Director of the Office of Community Development, Maine Department of Economic and Community Development; Ronald Lambert, Director of Community Programs, United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development; Rodney Lynch, AICP, Community Development Director, City of RocklandAll Hazards Preparedness for Senior Officials
Truly effective preparedness for, response to, and recovery from a natural or man-made hazard requires the involvement of local elected and appointed officials. Much of the critical decision-making must happen before disaster strikes. This session will discuss the local policy-making and leadership roles necessary for sound emergency management. It will also overview funding available to facilitate sound planning for municipalities.
Presenter: Robert Bohlmann, Director, York County Emergency Management AgencyIdentity Theft and “Red Flag” Rules
This session will discuss local government compliance with the US Federal Trade Commission’s “Red Flag Rules.” In particular, this presentation will answer the following common questions: What are the Federal Trade Commission Red Flag Rules? Who is subject to them and when is action required? How should local governments comply with the Red Flag Rules and what are the consequences of non-compliance? How should local governments develop a model Red Flag program? There will be time for questions and answers, and there will be materials with links to samples you might use to help develop your own Red Flag policies and programs.
Presenter: James N. Katsiaficas, Director, Perkins ThompsonA Road Runs Through It
What is the jurisdiction of your municipality, and what is the jurisdiction of MaineDOT when it comes to your roads? What services and funding are available from MaineDOT to municipalities for roads? How are MaineDOT and the Emergency Services Communications Bureau working together to develop a single statewide road inventory, and how will it affect municipalities? Attend this session for the answers to these questions and more.
Presenters: Peter Coughlan, Director, Maine Local Roads Center; Bob White, E911 Spatial Database Manager, MEGIS, E911 support groupTools for Writing Effective Grants
This session will focus on techniques and technologies for helping communities gather and compile critical data to make their grant applications complete and compelling. Information about using GIS, including CommunityViz™, an advanced GIS-based decision support system which shows community planning and design applications in an interactive, real- time, 3D environment, and information about conducting income surveys will be presented.
Presenters: Jamie Francomano, Planner, City of Presque Isle; Anne Matlack, Assistant to the City Manager, City of Rockland; Representative of CommunityViz™; James Gulnac, AICP, Planning Director, Town of SanfordInformed Growth Act (“Big Box Develoment”)
This session will review the provisions of Maine’s Informed Growth Act, including the amendments enacted in the last session of the Legislature. Learn what the Act requires municipalities to do as part of their review of large-scale retail projects and how a municipality can adopt a local ordinance to modify some of the statutory review requirements. The session will include a discussion of the first project actually reviewed under the Act.
Presenters: William Dale and Natalie Burns, Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry
