ROLL CALL ( meeting called to order 19:00 hrs. on 06/08/2023 by R. Wilsey )
| PRESENT | NAME | CAPACITY | NOTES |
| Yes | Baumer, Heidi | Treasurer | |
| Yes | Considine, Dan | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Fletcher, William | General Counsel | |
| No | Friedlander, David | MFD 1st Assistant Chief | |
| Yes | Morrell, Art | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Sellman, Tom | Secretary | |
| No | Shipe, John | Commissioner | |
| No | Shuler, Steve | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Tschiderer, Steve | MFD Chief | |
| Yes | Wilsey, Ryan | Commissioner (Chairman) |
OTHER ATTENDEES NOTED
| NAME | CAPACITY | NOTES |
| Mike Arman | MFD Member | President – Board of Directors |
| Greg Francesco | MFD Member | Captain / Training Officer |
PUBLIC COMMENT
None presented.
CALENDAR / MEETING ROOM REQUEST REVIEW
Web/Email Inquiry: Several exchanges with Jennifer Singer, whose looking to use the Public Meeting Room on August 20th for approx. 50 people in conjunction with an 80th birthday party. Needs include bathroom, tables and chairs. Email correspondence was sent with facility usage application and fee explanation. Status: waiting for application submission. Currently the date would be clear for this event. Chief Tschiderer believes he met the woman on Tuesday whereby he referred her to Secretary Sellman as the contact point.
Policy Validation Question: Chief Tschiderer asked for confirmation regarding the policy of not allowing alcohol for outside events. The board members present confirmed that the no-alcohol policy was still the rule.
SECRETARY ITEMS
Approval of May 11 District Meeting Minutes
Art Morrell motioned to approve the minutes from the May 11th District meeting with a second by D. Considine. The motion passed with unanimous consent of the members present: 3-0-0
AFDNYS By-Law Changes
T. Sellman inquired if anyone present (since Commissioners Shuler & Shipe were absent) had heard what the outcome was regarding the By-Law change vote (as presented at the Annual Meeting of the AFDNYS at Turning Stone May 19th. No one was aware of published results.
CORRESPONDENCE
None other than Public Meeting Room inquiry as outlined above.
MENDON FIRE DEPT BOARD OF DIRECTORS REPORT
Department Sale of Pond Rd Property
Mendon Fire Department’s sale of their Pond Road Property completed with net proceeds of $127K. Thanks were extended to District Counsel Fletcher and Department member Chip Knapp for their participation in the process.
Department Post-Carnival Debrief
M. Arman indicated he will be setting up a meeting for the carnival committee (with invitations extended here) to review (a) the carnival in general, (b) cargo storage related issues, (c) possible carnival-format changes, (d) plans for the member’s out-building, etc.
In response to D. Considine, there was some general discussion with respect to continued difficulty in volunteer recruitment for firefighters as there were no leads generated by carnival. A few folks observed that (a) this is a generic problem with many community volunteer organizations, and (b) our best results seem to come from member’s personal referral.
CHIEF’S REPORT (by Chief Tschiderer)
| CALLS (since 01/01/23) | 126 |
| APARATUS DAMAGE | None |
| INJURIES | No Firefighter / 1 Ladies Auxiliary ( minor during carnival clean-up) K. Morrell, D. Joint and E. Bendschneider on Non-LOSAP medical Leave. J. Rosehshein, D. Kester have returned from medical. |
- No firematic operational issues during the carnival, and all fill-ins had no issues
- ISO Inspection held Tues (June 6th)
- Open item since 2016: alternative water supply
- No Community Risk Reduction Program noted. Fire prevention programs very limited – (note: this view independent of the efforts District Admin Sweet as he is not a certified instructor.
- Preplans lacking
- Records-retention system rated very high.
- Possible taxpayer insurance-rate changes although ISO grading system not necessarily followed by all insurance companies (it is voluntary).
- Chief Chapman announced his retirement from Fishers Fire District (effective end of June).
- Personnel : SCBA usage by exterior FF –review session held with Personnel Commissioner, District Chief, and member with no disciplinary action requested or taken.
- Asst. Chief Friedlander assigned as mentor to EMS Captain Francesco.
- Chief requested that the District move forward with establishing a set of representatives (one from the AHJ (e.g. District Board representative), one operational leader, and one individual representing the Department manpower) that will serve on the TBD task-force committee that will investigate consolidation and regionalization. D. Considine made a motion, resolving to establish three members (one District board, one District operations, one Department) with names TBD (at this time) to represent the Mendon Fire District in the aforementioned committee. A. Morrell seconded the motion, which passed by unanimous consent of the members present: 3-0-0
Purchase Requests Status Update
- From May Approval – Turnout Boots [ for A. Morrell] ( $ 400 ). [ info to be amended – boots received but given to C. Knapp as they did not fit A. Morrell ]
Purchase Requests
- Extra Turnout Boots ( $ 1680 ). [ note: this is only for approval, not to make the actual order. Due to lead times for various turn-out gear items, once a more common delivery time has been achieved, then items will actually be ordered ]
D. Considine motioned to approve above purchase request with a second by R. Wilsey. The motion passed by unanimous consent of the members present: 3-0-0
Line Officer Qualifications Draft Presentation
Chief explained that the draft (see Appendix C) is a combination of what the District agreed to last year with the recommendations from Matt Lepkowski ( Monroe County Fire Bureau ). When asked about current vs new-draft gaps, there were two areas: (1) on what the current training officers need in order to meet state requirements as Training Officers. Chief is working with current staff in support of gap-closure, and (2) all Line Officers must be interior qualified.
Of import was the Chief’s context in how the requirements more generally impact the current line. The stipulation is that officers currently holding rank & position will be allowed to remain in their respective position until December 2024 (to allow folks time to reach compliance with these draft requirements.)
D. Considine followed up with Asst. Chief Marchese’s status with respect to the annual physical not having included certification for interior. When asked if he was going back to get the interior qualification, Asst. Chief Marchese requested some time to think about it. Dan will notify Chief of decision.
R. Wilsey made a motion to accept receipt of the Draft Qualifications with a vote to be held in July. After discussion and no second, the motion was withdrawn.
Art Morrell made a motion to accept the draft requirements as presented with a second by D. Considine. The motion failed to pass with a vote of: 2-0-1 (of the board members present). Chairman Wilsey abstained requiring more time to digest the information.
District Rules & Regulations : Firefighter Readiness Addition
Secretary Sellman asked the board if they had reviewed and were ready to vote on acceptance of the Chief’s submission of rules governing the evaluation of Firefighter Readiness. After discussion, D. Considine made a motion to accept the new section in Rule 125. R. Wilsey seconded the motion which passed by unanimous consent by the members present: 3-0-0.
TREASURER’S REPORT
See Appendix A for this meeting’s Vouchers.
H. Baumer noted that ‘the budget is in great shape’. D. Considine made contact with Penflex representatives regarding acquisition of their LOSAP report. He was told that we are next on their list to deliver. Dan will notify Heidi (and the Board) on their arrival.
Heidi noted that she has a significant amount of travel the upcoming month, and to let her know of any emergency payments, etc. that are pending.
R. Wilsey motioned to pay the bills with A. Morrell seconding the motion. The motion passed unanimously with those present: 3-0-0.
OPERATIONAL COMMITTEE REPORTS
Capital Projects / Special Projects / Buildings & Grounds (S. Shuler / J. Shipe absent)
No Updates
Apparatus
| Vehicle/Equip | Issues/Problems/Plans |
| 364 | No issue |
| 365 | Has exhaust problem pending. |
| 367 | No issue |
| 3617 | See District Admin report. |
| 3618 | No issue |
| Haul Trailer | No issues |
| 3c16 | No issues |
| 3c26 | No issues |
Art Morrell still working on plans for two new trucks ( of 367 – type ).
Personnel (reported by D. Considine)
Background Checks:
In consideration of the newly proposed Restricted Access Member Program, and as it relates to establishing a safe environment for youth programs, there was discussion with respect to the implementation of a more encompassing background check for current and new members alike.
After discussion, R. Wilsey made a motion that the District covers the cost and implement a background-check program (as researched and trialed by D. Considine) in support of the new RAM program that covers checks in the areas of sexual offender and arson convictions. This motion was seconded by D. Considine. The motion passed unanimously with those present: 3-0-0.
Background Checks (cont.)
In the course of discussion, it was agreed that D. Considine and Counsel Fletcher would consider and develop an approach that would be used to present and subsequently apply to the current membership retroactively.
District Administrator’s Report: See Appendix B for copy of the report. D. Considine made a motion to approve the purchase requests with a second from R. Wilsey. The motion passed unanimously by the members present: 3-0-0.
Art Morrell raised a question with respect to an invoice of $ 302 for station boots. There was discussion regarding whether this had come through the approval process with the Board. D. Considine to investigate what transpired.
As prompted by the voucher report, R. Wilsey asked for confirmation from Chief Tschiderer if everything is copasetic with the Alpine software purchase/updates – which received an affirmative answer.
Annual Physicals: Dan spoke with the District Administrator requesting information (quantity increase / cost estimate) for budgeting impact evaluation assuming the yearly physical requirement is initiated start of 2024.
Information/Technology (from R. Wilsey)
-Ryan inquired if Chief (or the District/Dept.) was interested in the three FirstNet phones (cost $0.99) acquired for/through carnival use. The group consensus was to shut them down.
OLD BUSINESS
Art Morrell inquired as to the status of the District handbook. Chief Tschiderer has supplied a draft version of a handbook to members of the Board. Per D. Considine, Art will be working from that template to construct a version that everyone will work on with the goal of presenting it for a vote at the July District meeting.
Chief indicated the missing yellow portable radio has finally been found – it had fallen into spare tire compartment of the white Assist. Chief’s vehicle.
NEW BUSINESS
None brought forward.
PUBLIC COMMENT
G. Francesco inquired whether Firefighter P. Jenkins’s travel voucher for Firefighter I class was approved – A. Morrell indicated that it had been approved.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn at 20:17 proposed by R. Wilsey and seconded by D. Considine with unanimous consent of the members present: 3-0-0
Respectfully Submitted by
Tom Sellman
District Secretary, Mendon Fire District
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
APPENDIX C (part 1 of 2)
APPENDIX C (cont. part 2 of 2)
