ROLL CALL ( meeting called to order 19:00 hrs. on 05/11/2023 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 | |
| Yes | Morrell, Art | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Sellman, Tom | Secretary | |
| 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 Member | President – Board of Directors |
| Sierra Marchese | MFD Member | Captain / Training Officer |
| Greg Francesco | MFD Member | Captain / Training Officer |
| David Yelle | Mendon Town Resident | Life Member MFD |
PUBLIC COMMENT
None presented.
CALENDAR / MEETING ROOM REQUEST REVIEW
Approval for use of the Public Community Room sought for three events:
Use by Cub Scout Pack 105 for May 12th @ 6 – 8 PM
Use by Chief Tschiderer for Consolidation Task Force for May 24th @ 19:00
Use by Mendon Square Homeowners Assoc. by Tom Lyons for Sept 14th @ 6 – 8 PM
Motion to approve all three events made by R. Wilsey and seconded by D. Considine. The motion passed with unanimous consent: 5-0-0
SECRETARY ITEMS
Approval of April 13 District Meeting Minutes
R. Wilsey motioned to approve the minutes from the April 13th District meeting with a second by S. Shuler. The motion passed with unanimous consent: 5-0-0
LOSAP Report Status
T. Sellman reported that the LOSAP 2022 report packet was submitted to Penflex via US Postal Mail on April 20th. Email was sent to Penflex representatives (with confirmation) notifying of the shipment. H. Baumer indicated NY State will be requesting some finalized report from Penflex as part of the AUD submission. D. Considine expressed that he will follow up with Penflex to ensure they supply what is required.
AFDNYS By-Law Changes
T. Sellman reminded Commissioner’s Shuler and Shipe of their expected attendance to vote for the By-Law changes as presented at the Annual Meeting of the AFDNYS at Turning Stone May 19th. R. Wilsey sent email to Ken Bowers confirming their expected attendance.
CORRESPONDENCE
An inquiry was made (via email) from Joy Pender regarding facility rental for a family event. T. Sellman returned an email with a request for more detail along with room & pavilion request forms.
MENDON FIRE DEPT BOARD OF DIRECTORS REPORT
CONEX Box
M. Arman indicated the CONEX box for carnival storage use is to be delivered May 17th to a groomed clearing by the hedgerow. Unit was purchased from Viola Storage, for less than what was approved.
Duty Crew Incentive Trial
M. Arman indicated that the $50 gift card incentive program (10+ sign-ups between Feb – April) did seem to drive more signups with nine folks qualifying. BOD elected to continue program for period of June – August, but changing slots to be just evenings during the week and keeping full weekends.
Report on RAM Program development
Mike briefed the commissioners on the Restricted Active Membership (RAM) program that G. Francesco would address later in the meeting. The RAM program is an outgrowth of the Explorer program that facilitates older youth to more fully participate as ‘junior firefighters’. The program will required a Department By-Law change to form another membership category. It is anticipated to be presented to the membership at the June department meeting and followed by a vote at the July meeting. The BOD was in agreement to move forward at their last meeting (May 9th).
CHIEF’S REPORT (by Chief Tschiderer)
| CALLS (since 01/01/23) | 107 |
| APARATUS DAMAGE | Nothing significant. Some minor write-ups resulting from Truck Checks |
| INJURIES | None Dick Joint and Joe Rosenshein out of service due to non-fire department incidents. |
- Fatal MVA at Pittsford – Mendon Center Road @ Topspin Drive.
- Carnival Fill-in’s : Honeoye Falls FD, Pittsford FD, Rush FD and Victor FD
- PCR’s : current software is not NEMSIS compliant with the latest update from NYS. The EMS officer is investigating other options with Medical Director, MLREMS, and NYS EMS.
- Chief made a request for all interior FireFighters receive annual physicals (a change from the age-frequency matrix). After discussion, R. Wilsey motioned that the Rules and Regulations be changed such that all members must receive an annual physical in the context of NFPA Guidelines. This was seconded by J. Shipe and passed by unanimous consent : 5-0-0 The discussion focused on the arriving at the qualification level each member would be approved with respect to SCBA usage ( Level 1 – 3 : Exterior – not qualified, Exterior – qualified for emergency/short term, Interior qualified). D. Considine is to pursue logistics with respect to equipment for ‘fit’ testing.
Purchase Requests
- Books for training/self-development ( $ 315 ).
- Phoenix First Due Helmets – trial new lightweight ( $ 598 )
- Fire Police Cone Kits qty 7 ( collapsible ) ( $ 1719 )
- Lighting : Vantage helmet light rechargeable batteries (qty 8) + bank-charger, seven flashlights, six battery-powered Scene lights to replace corded ones : total cost estimate — $ 4880
- Work Order / Paging Module ( To Increase communication and accountability for work orders ) combined cost ( $ 2450 ) [ Note: current EMS Module to be sunset, therefore not part of invoice going forward. ]
R. Wilsey motioned to approve above five purchase requests with a second by D. Considine. The motion passed with unanimous consent: 5-0-0
- Turnout Boots [ A. Morrell] ( $ 400 ).
- Firefighter Gloves ( 8 pairs ) – trial a new lightweight brand from FDIC show ( $ 776 )
R. Wilsey motioned to approve above two purchase requests with a second by D. Considine. The motion passed with unanimous consent: 5-0-0
Chief requested that a PO tracker be placed on Google Drive for more visibility.
TREASURER’S REPORT
See Appendix A for this meeting’s Vouchers.
There was discussion prompted by H. Baumer noting continued queries from NYS (in the context of auditing) regarding the dollar-outlay anticipated for LOSAP. T. Sellman noted that the due date of the last step in LOSAP reporting (just prior to sending to Penflex) is not until July 1.
R. Wilsey motioned to pay the bills with J. Shipe seconding the motion. The motion passed unanimously: 5-0-0.
OPERATIONAL COMMITTEE REPORTS
Capital Projects / Special Projects / Buildings & Grounds (as reported by S. Shuler)
S. Shuler indicated contract for plowing and mowing ( 3 yr duration ) all set. Steve is still working on plans for sidewalk work.
Apparatus
| Vehicle/Equip | Issues/Problems/Plans |
| 364 | No issue |
| 365 | Replacing lights with LED’s |
| 367 | No issue |
| 3617 | T. Sellman noted issue with battery charger at last truck checks. [ Ed. Note: D. Sweet saw sheet and affected repair (found blown-fuse issue) ] |
| 3618 | Request was made by the Chief to make sure PM is done during cold weather. |
| Haul Trailer | No issues |
| 3c16 | No issues |
| 3c26 | $1300 in parts and an expectation of $300 – $400 in labor. (turn signals, brake stabilizer links, belts). |
Art Morrell detailed that replacement for 367 will be actively pursued with a plan to do something within the next year. The plan would re-position the current 367 down to 3c26 status and dispose of the current 2015 white 3c26 vehicle.
Personnel (reported by D. Considine)
Leadership: Line Officer Qualifications
Discussion was initiated by Chief Tschiderer regarding the current line officer qualifications and status of some individual positions that are not up to standards (Asst. Chief Marchese missing interior qualification status). The Chief requested that the current 10 year lookback be eliminated. There was discussion with respect to the 2 year grace period for training completing training – that it’s too broad a time-frame. There was general agreement that a staged timeframe for various qualification elements is better. There was discussion and general agreement that the entire line (in contrast to the current arrangement of just the three Chiefs) needs approval by the District.
The plan forward is that at the June District Meeting, the Chief and Line will present their draft outlining the Line-Officer qualifications (that includes the staged timeframes for completion). Then this, along with the proposal to eliminate the 10-yr lookback and inclusion of the entire line requiring District approval/oversight will be voted on.
Note there was general agreement that the qualification requirement changes would become effective for the 2024 timeframe.
D. Considine agreed to follow-up with respect to Asst. Chief Marchese’s not receiving his qualification as an interior firefighter. This process to involve the District Administrator to determine (working with HealthWorks and Dr. Carlson) if the SCBA rating is a clerical error, an oversight, or if there was a medical reason. If an oversight, then since Asst. Chief Marchese has previously qualified as ‘interior’, determine if this rating can this be re-instated by paperwork, or does it require a new physical.
Personnel (reported by D. Considine )
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 S. Shuler. The motion passed unanimously: 5-0-0
Insurance: Explorers / Restricted Activity Member
Dan confirmed with McNeil that youth who have satisfied the criteria as a qualified member (e.g. as defined by the (R)estricted (A)ctivity (M)ember Program) and are full members of the department, they are covered by the insurance. There is no differential or cost impact over what is incurred by simply adding a new member to the Department.
The RAM Program draft-definition was distributed and discussed with Dan commenting that it looked good on quick review. As proposed, the plan forward would be that the program reference and RAM membership category be incorporated into the Department By-Laws by presenting to the membership at the June Department meeting with an approval vote followed at the July Department meeting. Assuming passage, then any eligible individuals that are current Explorers could be introduced and voted on at the same meeting.
Dan noted one insurance item noted by the McNeil representative was abiding by the Two Adult Rule when working with youth under 18. Captain Marchese indicated that the training department plans to incorporate Youth Protection Training (as required by current advisors) into the annual McNeil training for all department members.
In response to discussion, Dan will investigate resource and cost for the appropriate sexual harassment/predator type background checks that all current (per suggestion by Chief Tschiderer) and new members should be in compliance with. Vote to cover any determined cost deferred until the June District meeting.
Dan and G. Francesco agreed to review/modify/polish RAM Program document.
Information/Technology (from R. Wilsey)
– Installation of Key FOB lock for basement cage deferred until after carnival per J. Shipe
– Ryan to request pricing on more Key FOB’s.
– Ryan to take care of ID card generation resources ( cards and ink )
OLD BUSINESS
None brought forward.
NEW BUSINESS
None brought forward.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None brought forward.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn at 20:11 proposed by D. Considine and seconded by S. Shuler with unanimous consent: 5-0-0
Respectfully Submitted by
Tom Sellman
District Secretary, Mendon Fire District
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
APPENDIX C
