As I joined the Camden Select Board in mid- June [2016], I thought this might be a good time to write an update on the experience.

The experience is much like viewing an iceberg.

Only 10 percent of an iceberg can be seen. The other 90 percent is below the waterline.

Working on the Select Board is much like that.

10% of what we do seems to be noticed by the public – even those looking closely.

But the other 90 percent is where the real work is.

Making a rough count I've been to six Select Board meetings so far – a few, when there's an issue that is making news, have been very well attended – but often there's no more than one or two people in the audience.

(Remember – all of our meetings are streamed live and can be viewed after-the-fact at townhallstreams.com)

But in that same time I've been to at least 30 different workshops or committee meetings and have met individually another dozen times or so with different town residents. Add in phone calls and emails and it's a very time consuming job.

But a wonderful one.

There's nothing so rewarding as public service (I've been doing it in other ways for almost 30 years) and I really enjoy the position.

What have we been working on?

A quick list – working with the Maine DOT regarding Route 1 construction, developing a town solar farm, looking into the future about infrastructure repairs that will be needed, keeping track of our new arrangement with Rockport where both towns share the services of Camden Police Chief Randy Gagne – reports are that this new arrangement is working very well and is beneficial to both towns, working aggressively to make sure our budgeting for the new season at the Snow Bowl is on track and a million other detailed items.

A few of items we've worked on – with the additional help of a number of our town committees – that are all staffed by volunteers – especially the Planning Board in these two cases will be on the ballot on November 8th.

Article 3 allows a small zoning change for already existing buildings that will expand storage of boats to include maintenance and building as well. This is a minor change that can provide some new job opportunities in Camden.

Article 4 is what I get asked about most – the new town sound ordinance. Towns all around Camden including Belfast, Rockland and Rockport have sound ordinances. In order to determine if one was needed in Camden the police department spent a year taking sound measurements when complaints came in and reported the results to the Planning Board. The Planning Board then researched both the neighboring sound ordinances and also those across the country. With all that information in hand a special committee came up with a simple, fair and workable solution that will allow the police department to work reasonably with people when excess sound becomes an issue – instead of having to escalate the situation by having to use more severe laws on the books. In reviewing all the work done by the police department and the Planning Board I was very impressed that the solution they came up with to my mind is more reasonable and workable than any of the other ordinances I reviewed. A win – win for the citizens of Camden – because of the hard work all the committee volunteers did in this case.

Two other quick mentions – I think the compromise put together by everyone working on the Midcoast waste situation is the best of all worlds after a lot of hard work and research done by people on both sides of the issue.

Lastly – I wanted to bring attention to the Midcoast School of Technology construction referendum. I attended one of their information meetings and it's no surprise – they are the expects on technology after all – that the plans for the new school are remarkable and will serve their students very well long into the future. One important note about the ballot issue – what is not spelled out - is that this is a regional school and the costs of construction will be spread out over the 19 communities that the school serves. No one community will take the hit on this one.

Thanks for the support – I'll keep writing updates on a regular basis. If you ever want to contact me – just email me at mratner@camdenmaine.gov. It may take me a couple weeks to get back to you – in between all the meetings – but I will – and look forward to it.

Marc Ratner serves on the Camden Select Board.