ROLL CALL ( meeting called to order 19:00 hrs. on 03/13/2025 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 | At PSTF Class |
| Yes | Joint, Richard | Commissioner | |
| No | Sellman, Tom | Secretary | Out of town on vacation. |
| Yes | Shipe, John | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Shuler, Steve | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Tschiderer, Steve | MFD, Chief | |
| Yes | Wilsey, Ryan | Commissioner (Chairman) |
OTHER ATTENDEES NOTED
| NAME | CAPACITY | NOTES |
| Mike Arman | MFD President | Representing MFD Board of Directors |
| Chip Knapp | MFD Vice President | Representing MFD Board of Directors |
| Harrison Carbonel | Ram Candidate | Interview |
| Monica Javinia | Member Candidate | Interview |
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
NEW MEMBER CANDIDATE INTRODUCTIONS
President Arman introduced the following individuals that have expressed interest in joining the
Department. Each gave a short personal bio with a brief Q&A exchange and a consensus of welcome:
| Harrison Carbonel | RAM candidate : junior @ HFL, interested in DHLS area & helping others |
| Liam Feeley | Member candidate: senior @ HFL, just completed EMT training. |
| Monica Javidna | Member candidate: resident, pharmacologist @ FDA, loves helping others |
CALENDAR / MEETING ROOM REQUEST REVIEW
The following meeting room requests (for year 2025) were submitted for approval. Secretary Sellman
indicated calendar is free for them. Shuler motioned to approve the request, seconded by J. Shipe
and passing with unanimous consent: 5-0-0.
–May 8: 3rd Battalion Fire Police Dinner/Meeting 18:00 to 22:30
–May 22: Cub Scout pack 105 Meeting 18:30 to 19:30
SECRETARY ITEMS
Past Meeting Minutes
D. Considine motioned to approve the Feb 13th 2025 District meeting minutes with a second by S.
Shuler. The motion passed with unanimous consent: 5-0-0.
Correspondence
Secretary Sellman reviewed note received from NYS Dept. Taxation, which gave notice of changes
coming to quarterly reporting of combined withholding, wage reporting & unemployment insurance
returns. This was forwarded to D. Considine and Treasurer Baumer.
Sellman continued with a notification of receipt & distribution of results & recommendations by the
new auditor (SVHB).
MENDON FIRE DEPT BOARD OF DIRECTORS REPORT (President Arman & V.P. Knapp)
- 2025 Department Annual Banquet: Arman confirmed that the District is not contributing and not supplying gas-cards. The alternative proposed (with board consensus) was to award all active members a portable-radio strap for used on calls.
- Past Chief Al Hurley Community Service Award: The Board received nine applicants from HFL-CSD for the Service Award including three from Dept. members. The Board selected seven of the candidates.
- Department Fund Drive: Letter has been distributed to the community.
- Member’s Building Renovation: Department met with Rob Meehan (Architect) – final drawings expected within the next week – then on to local contractor bids to be attained.
- Board of Education Presentation: President Arman gave a status report on the preparations being pursued to present the value of the area volunteer fire departments and make a request to consider a partial tax exemption (similar to Pittsford and many other school districts in NYS.
CHIEF’S REPORT
See Appendix A (pg 1 & 2) for content presented in Chief Tschiderer’s report.
See Appendix A [pg1 & 2] for content presented in Chief Tschiderer’s report.
Due to an incident at recent truck checks, Chief submitted ( see Appendix A [pg 3 & 4] ) a new SOG
for operation of the Haul Trailer. After a brief discussion, this was accepted and approved for
inclusion into the SOG collective via motion from R. Wilsey, second by D. Considine and unanimous
consent: 5-0-0.
Chief gave status with respect to the District training/response stipend program. If current eligible
classes currently in progress complete successfully, $3500 will be due. Members registered for
upcoming classes would add $ 2750 if all completes successfully.
Purchase Requests
- 2 SuperVac 16” Makita Platform Exhaust Fans, 4 batteries & charger – Total $10,660
- Low bid suppliers: Jerome Fire Equip: Fans
- MES: batteries & charger
- After discussion D. Considine made a motion to approve the purchase request. This was seconded by S. Shuler and passed unanimously: 5-0-0.
- Per Oct 17th 2024 District meeting directive, Chief returned to request approval for District Administrator to formally shop for the helmet accountability passport system. J. Shipe motioned for approval, seconded by D. Considine with unanimous consent: 5-0-0.
- J. Shipe inquired about cracked passenger side mirror on 3C-26 vehicle (noted when coming back from Mendon Autowerks).
TREASURER’S REPORT
Audit Results : Stokes, Visca, Hucko & Barone, LLC
Heidi led a discussion of the audit results and explained the process by which the bank reconciliations
and statements are derived (one of the four areas of suggested improvement by SVHB).
The second area of improvement suggested by SVHB was an end-of-year payroll review. After
discussion, it was determined that D. Considine would pull the report at year-end and distribute.
A third item suggested was that the District should prepare a report showing District employees
unpaid vacation and sick-time annually. The emphasis is to track accrued benefits and be aware of
any liability at year-end
The fourth and last item was a suggestion to have an accurate listing of material capital assets and
update it annually. Heidi reported that the District does not currently have that at all.
Voucher & Reconciliation Review
Treasurer Baumer gave an overview of the voucher package presented which included bank
reconciliation statements for January and February as suggested by the recent audit results
The Board reviewed all vouchers presented (See Appendix B) and S. Shuler motioned to approve the
Treasurer’s report. This was seconded by D. Considine and passed unanimously: 5-0-0.
OPERATIONAL COMMITTEE REPORTS
Capital Projects / Special Projects / Buildings & Grounds (S. Shuler / J. Shipe)
S. Shuler noted the door-project is complete. Outdoor items are starting to be evaluated.
J. Shipe starting project to patch hole in floor where chimney came out. L. Kaplan would follow
with electric connection for dryer to be moved up from the basement.
NYS VFIRE Grant
R. Wilsey led a discussion with respect to the VFIRE Grant and it’s administration. R. Wilsey
indicated he did the preliminary paperwork indicating the District will comply with the
requirements in order to operate in the program. He also indicated that the District was not
receiving some of the notifications/communications due to the mix-up in organizational names
(that submitted earlier in the grant process [MF Department] vs [MF District]. The following
assignments for contacts with NYS were noted:
Primary Contact: District Administrator D. Sweet
Fiscal Contact: Treasurer Baumer
Signatory Contact: Ryan Wilsey
Alternate Contact: Steve Shuler
S. Shuler reported that the District Administrator did hear back from the NYS contact with
regards to questions about the level of detail submitted for the grant – and it appears to have
been very generic.
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 | Rear suspension springs just replaced |
Commissioner Joint initiated a discussion with respect to 367 replacement visa vi – what to
present in ‘the mini-bid process’. Three different configurations (looking at 3⁄4 ton and 1-ton
variants) were investigated and presented by the District Administrator. There were questions
with respect to the specificity of detail submitted in the mini-bid process and how to address any
components/accessories that are aftermarket and not supplied by the actual truck manufacturer.
Chief Tschiderer and Asst. Chief Kester gave commentary on the use of the NYS OGS mini-bid
system and its use of a supplemental package – which would allow the bed-insert, lighting
package, etc. to be specified so that it all comes together for final delivery. Another emphasis
was that it’s key to make specifications ‘performance-based’ vs extremely detailed – lets a wider
audience of bidder’s look to consider out of their possible stock. Chief Tschiderer gave an
example of what he would want to see: ‘4×4 with 8’ bed, 1-ton pickup and crew cab.
Asst. Chief Kester volunteered to assist with the bid preparation.
After discussion, R. Wilsey motioned that the Board approves going out for mini-bid. D. Considine
seconded the motion which passed by unanimous consent: 5-0-0
D. Joint asked if the District would return to the 1⁄2 ton truck when considering replacements for
Chief’s trucks. Additional discussion did not return a solid answer. The current efforts have
shown that the price points between 1⁄2 ton and 3⁄4 ton were not necessarily significant – and more
debate as to feature functionality would be required.
Personnel & Leadership (from D. Considine)
After review, D. Considine motioned to accept the District Administrator’s Report. This was
seconded by S. Shuler and passed with unanimous consent: 5-0-0.
Leadership Workshop Meeting scheduled (and notice published in the Sentinel) March 27th.
Recruiting/Retention:
There was a brief discussion with respect to development plans for the new member candidates.
Review of Training Officer Candidate
R. Wilsey initiated a discussion with respect to Training Officer Candidate Thomas May (former
Deputy Chief Rochester Fire Dept., past Chief at Chili). Asst. Chief Kester notified the Board that
changing May’s tenure from 6-month to a one year term is under consideration (e.g. one individual
for 12 months vs two individuals for 6 months). Given May’s significant experience in top
operational positions, his experience as a NYS fire instructor, and the positive recommendations
from Mendon members who have taken courses from May were seen as a huge plus.
Discussion with respect to compensation centered on the idea of hiring May as a part-time employee
(side benefit of providing an insurance umbrella). R. Wilsey motioned to hire Thomas May as a part-
time employee for $ 35/hr. This was seconded by D. Considine and passed by unanimous consent: 5-
0-0.
Details & Action Items: (A) R. Wilsey to obtain a laptop, (B) reporting structure: Kester-primary,
Tschiderer-secondary, (C) pay and estimated work-load : $ 35/hr., 7 hrs./week, (D) merge onto
existing bi-weekly payroll runs, (E) job description / work agreement / handbook : Tschiderer /
Fletcher (F) NYS retirement – no impact for Mendon foreseen.
District Insurance
D. Considine noted Tony Blackwell (McNeil Insurance) has expressed interest in coming to a
Department meeting in April to review the various types of insurance provided and that is available.
Proposed/accepted plan is to have him come to the April 7th Department meeting for a 1⁄2 hour
presentation.
Information/Technology (from R. Wilsey)
- Ryan is waiting for a quote from Dell representative for projector system for the public meeting room. Current iPad’s in the trucks are aging-out, so looking at starting to replace them, with the possibility of repurposing them as MFD Carnival point-of-sale devices. (4 truck apparatus, 3 Chief vehicles).
OLD BUSINESS
None.
NEW BUSINESS
None.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT
At approximately 20:14, J. Shipe made a motion to adjourn the meeting which was seconded by D.
Considine, passing by unanimous consent: 5-0-0.
Respectfully Submitted by
Tom Sellman
District Secretary,
Mendon Fire District
