ROLL CALL ( meeting called to order 19:00 hrs. on 08/15/2024 by R. Wilsey)
| PRESENT | NAME | CAPACITY | NOTES |
| Yes | Baumer, Heidi | Treasurer | |
| No | Considine, Dan | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Fletcher, William | General Counsel | |
| Yes | Friedlander, David | MFD 1st Assistant Chief | |
| Yes | Joint, Richard | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Sellman, Tom | Secretary | |
| No | Shipe, John | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Shuler, Steve | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Tschiderer, Steve | MFD, Chief | |
| Yes | Wilsey, Ryan | Commissioner (Chairman) |
OTHER ATTENDEES NOTED
PUBLIC COMMENT
| NAME | CAPACITY | NOTES |
| Chip Knapp | MFD Vice President | Representing MFD Board of Directors |
| Peter Kester | MFD Member | |
| Stephanie Kester | Mendon Community Member | |
| Gregory Francesco | Mendon Community Member |
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
CALENDAR / MEETING ROOM REQUEST REVIEW
None.
SECRETARY ITEMS
Past Meeting Minutes
R. Wilsey motioned to approve the July 11th, 2024 District meeting minutes with a second by S.
Shuler. The motion passed with unanimous consent of those present: 3-0-0
Review of Scheduled Meetings
The August 8th Leadership workshop was cancelled due to Commissioner Considine’s unanticipated
work conflict. With Commissioner Considine absent, the Secretary noted the date for the next
scheduled District Leadership Workshop is October 10th. Secretary also reminded everyone of the
upcoming Aug. 22nd Budget Workshop meeting at 6 PM.
Correspondence
A note was received by Chief Tschiderer from Pittsford Fire Department indicating that Tim Hyland is
good to go as a Mutual Aid Member.
MENDON FIRE DEPT BOARD OF DIRECTORS REPORT (Vice President Knapp)
- MFD Carnival Appreciation Event: Event went well and all positive feedback at this point.
- AV Equipment upgrade for Community Room: R. Wilsey requested he be forwarded the
quote (cost and model info for the speakers used) so he can investigate with Dell: (a) possible
competitive offering and (b) more importantly, sufficient integration capability with their
projector offering. - Recruiting & Retention: Chip detailed the decision by the Department to acquire the Prepared Hero
Emergency Fire Blankets for department members using the 2% monies. Chip presented (see
Appendix D) a list of incentive awards proposed for 2025 that would reward various
training, qualification achievements, and call response targets. In conclusion, Chip indicated
he would supply Chairman Wilsey a projected cost based on current 2024 run rates in time
for the budget workshop on Aug 22nd.
CHIEF’S REPORT
See Appendix C for content presented in Chief Tschiderer’s report.
Purchase Requests:
- Helmet Lights from Streamlight: Qty 6 – $ 1052.94
- Sealed / Carcinogenic Resistant Turnout gear bags Gearbags.com: Qty 2 – $299.98
- R. Wilsey made a motion to approve the purchase requests with a second from S. Shuler. The motion
passed by unanimous consent of those present: 3-0-0
Chief Tschiderer inquired if there was a decision on the P.O. that had been tabled ( May 16th District
Meeting with August resolution timeframe) for the truck cap replacement on the 3C-16 vehicle.
After discussion, the consensus was to move forward with the purchase. Treasurer Baumer indicated
that there were sufficient funds in the Equipment Refurbishment Reserve Account. R. Wilsey
motioned to approve the P.O. ( $ 20819 ) subject to permissive referendum to be published (for 30
days) by Secretary Sellman. This was seconded by S. Shuler and passed by unanimous consent of
those present: 3-0-0. The P.O. amount (supplied by the Chief) is in a not-to-exceed context and
subject to possible variance as the District Purchasing Agent needs to perform an evaluation of
pricing ( e.g. NYState schedule bid vs. competitive bid, and any deviations from the initial
specification, known shipping costs ). Once that process is complete and details are determined, the
permissive referendum can be drawn up and published.
Chief Tschiderer also inquired if there were any questions with regards to vehicle replacement for
the current 367 rescue truck. After a brief discussion it was agreed that Chief and Commissioner
Joint would be meeting August 28th at 8 AM to work on the replacement plan/decision.
TREASURER’S REPORT
H. Baumer distributed the treasurer’s report, confirming the upcoming budget workshop on
Thursday Aug 22nd starting at 6 PM. She inquired if Chief would have his budget formalized, and she
inquired if C. Knapp would have the recruitment incentive program projections by then. Treasurer
Baumer indicated the District is in good financial health and that there was approximately $ 576K in
the larger capital reserve account. Interest earned YTD was between $16K and $18K.
S. Shuler made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report and pay the bills. The motion was
seconded by D. Joint and passed by unanimous consent of those present: 3-0-0
See Appendix B for the vouchers presented and approved.
OPERATIONAL COMMITTEE REPORTS
Capital Projects / Special Projects / Buildings & Grounds (S. Shuler / J. Shipe)
Building Air Conditioning: Final install of 2nd floor air conditioning project additional insulation in
progress.
Landscaping: Standard lawn care proceeding.
Apparatus
| Vehicle/Equip | Issues/Problems/Plans |
| 364 | No issue |
| 365 | No issue |
| 367 | No issue |
| 3617 | No issue |
| 3618 | No issue |
| Haul Trailer | No issue |
| 3c16 | No issue |
| 3c26 | No issue |
District Administrator’s Report:
In response to Chief Tschiderer’s inquiry about status of P.O. 24-19 (passport-helmet
accountability system), Commissioner Wilsey indicated he would follow up. Chief also noted that
the cascade system as priced in P.O. 24-18 would be equivalent to 7+ years of man-hour labor-
rate based on frequency of need and time to complete the task ( 1 trip/month @ 2 hrs/round-
trip).
In response to prompting from Assistant Chief Friedlander, Chief Tschiderer noted that the 10
bags of fuel absorbent procured (to replace those from a recent MVA response with Fishers FD)
was not based on a purchase request, and that the DEC will be back-filling the same in the near
term : therefore there will be plenty of extra absorbent on hand.
See Appendix A for copy of the District Administrator’s report.
R. Wilsey made a motion to approve D. Sweet’s report with a second from S. Shuler. The motion
passed by unanimous consent of those present: 3-0-0
Personnel & Leadership
No update.
Recruitment
No update.
Information/Technology (from R. Wilsey)
- As stated earlier, Ryan to work on official quote from Dell for speakers in Community Room.
- Ryan and Chief Tschiderer meeting the following week with Alpine to review (and position
MFD ) as a test site for an Attendance / Accountability package. - C. Knapp detailed that he will be contacting ADT commercial folks with regards to contract
violation and key FOB’s. He will seek W. Fletcher’s assistance if necessary as there’s $ 12K
remaining on the contract at this point.
OLD BUSINESS
None.
NEW BUSINESS
Commissioner Shuler initiated a discussion with respect to the Board’s plan for consolidation. S.
Shuler made a motion to adopt a resolution that Mendon Fire District is not interested in
consolidation. This motion was seconded by D. Joint.
Discussion points were brought forth : (1) questioning the time-frame that would be stipulated, (2)
the perception that Honeoye Falls and Town of Mendon officials are waiting for some more firm
indicators, (3) MFD working through their own internal issues, (4) leaving room for continued
research and examination of issues, (5) possible fines based on the pending adoption of new OSHA
standards. W. Fletcher expressed an opinion that the same effect can be achieved simply by not
pursing any further investigation.
At the end of discussion, the motion failed to pass with a majority: 2-0-1
The abstention was by R. Wilsey , expressing a need for further information to evaluate.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Peter Kester commented that he could not understand how the Board is not considering
consolidation in light of the repeated statements by Chief Tschiderer that the Department is not
responding to calls appropriately.
Stephanie Kester expressed concern regarding the District’s / Departments resource limitations with
respect to interior firefighters and EMT personnel. She asked what planning was being pursued to
address this issue if consolidation was not in the planning. This resulted in discussion regarding the
recruitment and incentive proposals (outlined earlier in the meeting), differing viewpoints,
continued use of mutual aid agreements, comparison of staffing mechanisms at surrounding
departments, tax-base amortization, volunteer staffing models, training opportunities and
equipment redundancy.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT
At approximately 19:40, R. Wilsey made a motion to adjourn the meeting which was seconded by S.
Shuler, passing by unanimous consent of those present: 3-0-0
Respectfully Submitted by
Tom Sellman
District Secretary,
Mendon Fire District
APPENDIX B: Treasurer’s Report Vouchers
APPENDIX C: Chief’s Monthly Report
