ROLL CALL ( meeting called to order 19:04 hrs. on 01/18/2024 by R. Wilsey)
| PRESENT | NAME | CAPACITY | NOTES |
| Yes | Baumer, Heidi | Treasurer | |
| Yes | Considine, Dan | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Fletcher, William | General Counsel | |
| Yes | Friedlander, David | MFD 1st Assistant Chief | Speaking for Chief Tschiderer |
| Yes | Joint, Richard | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Sellman, Tom | Secretary | |
| No* | Shipe, John | Commissioner | *Virtual attend via phone non-voting. |
| Yes | Shuler, Steve | Commissioner | |
| No | Tschiderer, Steve | MFD, Chief | |
| Yes | Wilsey, Ryan | Commissioner (Chairman) |
OTHER ATTENDEES NOTED
| NAME | CAPACITY | NOTES |
| Chip Knapp | MFD Vice President | Representing MFD Board of Directors |
| Greg Francesco | MFD Member | Captain / EMS Captain |
| Joe Rosenshein | MFD Member | Fire Police Captain |
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
CALENDAR / MEETING ROOM REQUEST REVIEW
There following meeting room requests (for year 2024) were submitted for approval. S. Shuler motioned to approve the request, seconded by R. Wilsey and passing with unanimous consent of those commissioners present: 4-0-0
Jan 17 : Scout Pack 105 from 6 – 7 pm
Feb 3 : GroundHog Day presentation/potluck – Shuler/Rosenshein from 4 – 8 pm
Feb 13 : Scout Pack 105 from 6 – 7 pm
April 2 : Presidential Primary Election from 5am – 10pm
June 25 : Congressional Primary Election from 5am – 10pm
Nov 5 : General Election from 5am – 10 pm
SECRETARY ITEMS
D. Considine motioned to approve the December 12th 2024 District meeting minutes with a second by S. Shuler. The motion passed with unanimous consent of those commissioners present: 4-0-0
Secretary Sellman pointed out a date conflict with the District meeting scheduled for November 14th and with the Florida Symposium (Nov 14-17). S. Shuler motioned to reschedule the November meeting to November 7th, 2024 with a second by R. Wilsey. The motion passed with unanimous consent of those commissioners present: 4-0-0
Secretary Sellman reported that the current eligibility-list for the 10% Tax Exemption was submitted to the Mendon Town Assessor’s office on 01/08/2024. He also detailed that the LOSAP roll & data for year-2023 reporting to Penflex has been prepared – just waiting on receipt of the reporting-package from Penflex.
With the beginning of the year being a time for housekeeping, the Secretary described the LGS-1 record retention schedule mechanism and asked for its acceptance as the recognized records retention and disposition schedule. D. Considine motioned to approve LGS-1 as the accepted schedule until superseded by another mechanism as dictated by NY State. This was seconded by S. Shuler. The motion passed with unanimous consent of those commissioners present: 4-0-0
MENDON FIRE DEPT BOARD OF DIRECTORS REPORT (given by Department Vice President Knapp)
Volunteer Fire Infrastructure & Response Equipment (V-FIRE) Grant Program
VP Knapp described the grant program and solicited volunteers to help formulate a proposal of what things the Department/District would like to go after. D. Considine volunteered to participate from the Board. The deadline for submission of April 30th with a possible earlier eligibility form was discussed.
Recruitment/Retention
VP Knapp reviewed a recent meeting members of the Department had with Dave Metzger of the Brighton Fire Department regarding Brighton’s efforts/programs/approach to recruiting and retention.
CHIEF’S REPORT
First Assistant Chief Friedlander gave the report in Chief Tschiderer’s absence (due to Army National Guard commitment). See Appendix C pages for content presented.
CHIEF’S REPORT (cont.)
- Assist. Chief remarked that the Monroe County Fire Bureau did an excellent job with recent storm preparation, having increased resources pre-planned (very helpful).
- Assist. Chief informed the board that the Department had several calls recently to a former member’s home who should be kept in thoughts and prayers dealing with illness.
- Assist. Chief remarked of the significant DEC matching grant that covered half the cost of the smaller thermal imaging cameras and CAFS mods to five fire extinguishers. He also drew attention to the NY State bid price for the MSRP $ 70K truck under discussion was $ 40K – a more appealing option. He also presented additional insight noting that new apparatus builds for big trucks (like an engine or tanker) is out to 30-month timeframe.
- There was discussion regarding the District’s position for members to participate in a UofR Astroskin Shirt Health/Stress Study – which looks to examine precursors to cardiac issues when firefighters are operating under stress conditions. The consensus of the Board was the study has value and has no issue if a Department member wishes to participate.
- Assist. Chief reported that Dr. Cushman has approved G. Francesco as the Departments EMS Officer.
- There was a lengthy discussion with respect to ongoing plans to provide an upward path for current Captain G. Francesco to become the 2nd Assist. Chief. This ongoing process was estimated to complete in the June timeframe and then present a formalized assignment to that position.
- Assist. Chief reported that one of the newer (2 month old) Unification pagers was turned in and non-operational after appearing to have been run over. This needs to come off inventory.
- Purchase Requests
- Kettlebells (2) for the Fitness Room $179.96
- Thermal Imaging Camera (2), lanyard (2), & EcoCaf3 retro kits (5) $3,583.08
- New tires (4) for 3C-26 vehicle $791.60
- NYSFAC COLT Training (FF Knapp/FF Principe) $400.00
- EMT Books (C. Battle/K. Ricker) $591.82
- Fire Emergency Services Instructor Book 3rd edition (C. Knapp) $72.78
R. Wilsey made a motion to approve the purchase requests. This was seconded by S. Shuler and passed by unanimous consent of those commissioners present: 4-0-0
TREASURER’S REPORT
H. Baumer noted that the District Audit starts tomorrow (January 19th, 2024), with this process expected to take a month or so at which time it will then be submitted.
Monthly Vouchers
R. Wilsey made a motion to pay the bills and approve the treasurer’s report. This motion was seconded by S. Shuler and passed by unanimous consent of those commissioners present: 4-0-0. See Appendix B for the list of vouchers.
OPERATIONAL COMMITTEE REPORTS
Capital Projects / Special Projects / Buildings & Grounds (S. Shuler / J. Shipe)
Landscaping & Grounds:
S. Shuler reported that contract with Moreland Landscaping totals $5347 with next year being the last ( a 3 yr cycle ) ; then he’ll have them re-quote for the combination landscaping, snow plowing and mowing. He noted that current budget is $11,500 for landscaping so any separate mowing costs for this year is not expected to exceed current budgeting. He summarized that Moreland’s cost so far has been significantly below other bids and/or actual providers
| 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 | Needs 4 new tires. |
OPERATIONAL COMMITTEE REPORTS (cont.)
Apparatus (cont.)
R. Joint initiated a brief discussion regarding new tires for 3c26 vehicle. In summary, current tires deemed insufficient for winter use – new ones (current purchase request) will be put on and swapped out after winter driving season.
District Administrator’s Report:
S. Shuler initiated discussion about the District Administrator’s concern regarding the qualifications/training of the two part-time assistants. The consensus of the board was that the individuals need a mutual-aid agreement from their home department, noting the level of capability from their chief. Dale will then go over vehicle training with them.
See Appendix A for copy of the District Administrator’s report. S. Shuler made a motion to approve D. Sweet’s report with a second from R. Wilsey. The motion passed by unanimous consent of those commissioners present: 4-0-0
Personnel
D. Considine reviewed two pay issues that have been corrected: (a) District Administrator’s salary had been miscalculated and has been corrected such that he gets a 6 percent increase – the 3% as originally intended plus the service retention bonus as stipulated in the handbook (b) increase (as previously approved) for Secretary Sellman was inadvertently forgotten, and Dan will correct.
Dan also indicated that leadership-meetings will begin in February (with a two-month cadence) – absolute time TBD. First part of the agenda will be information sharing/review regarding the consolidation effort.
Lastly, Dan informed everyone he’s looking to develop some alternative fitness-class opportunities to augment the sessions currently led by Eke.
Fire Police (FP) Drill Points
FP Capt. Joe Rosenshein led a discussion addressing an issue with how drill points are assigned/calculated for the Fire Police. The principle issue is that currently, drills must be two hours in duration to qualify for a LOSAP drill point. Joe explained that due to material coverage-limits and demographics of the current FP members, the FP Drill is generally one-hour in duration ; therefore no point credit. He suggested a modification to the point calculation such that a 1-hr FP drill would equate to one-half point. Furthermore, it was suggested that if a FP member remained post-FP-drill, and then joined the remaining members in their firematic drill, then that individual would earn the full point. There was general consensus of the board that this was acceptable if allowed by the NY State. Secretary Sellman and D. Considine directed to research and present findings at the February District meeting to determine what’s permissible.
Information/Technology (from R. Wilsey)
– FOB readers initially installed on new basement equipment cage door. Locking function remains to be completed.
– Waiting on quote from Dell for replacement computer driving the display boards.
– District Admin labeled circuit-breaker for electronic sign so ease identification when reset required (as was recently during wind/storm event).
OLD BUSINESS
None.
NEW BUSINESS
Assist. Chief Friedlander started a discussion (as requested by Chief Tschiderer) regarding the Board’s thoughts regarding bunk-crews. Items touched on included: (a) conversations of the same topic with Dave Metzger (Brighton FD), (b) physical plant configuration issues – building-code conformance (c) Department view as it would require acquisition of their area in the station.
VP Knapp reviewed three items under his direction from the Department:
– Birthday recognition for members
– Plans for the April Solar Eclipse – in recognition of expected area attendance (500K per Assist. Chief Friedlander), may be best not to host activity, but be prepared in operational context to respond to events. Department plans to acquire eclipse safe-viewing glasses to distribute for marketing.
– Instituting a challenge-coin program (event/effort recognition paradigm).
PUBLIC COMMENT
Member G. Francesco identified a possible safety hazard – gutters on the northeast side of the building not functioning correctly, resulting in an ice-coating on walkways.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT
At 20:17, R. Wilsey made a motion to adjourn the meeting which was seconded by S. Shuler, passing by unanimous consent of those commissioners present: 4-0-0
Respectfully Submitted by
Tom Sellman
District Secretary, Mendon Fire District
APPENDIX A: District Administrator Report ( Part 1 of 3 )
APPENDIX A: (cont.) District Administrator Report ( Part 2 of 3 )
APPENDIX A: (cont.) District Administrator Report ( Part 3 of 3 )
APPENDIX B: Treasurer’s Report Vouchers
APPENDIX C: Chief’s Monthly Report ( Part 1 of 2 )
APPENDIX C (cont.) : Chief’s Monthly Report ( Part 2 of 2 )
