ROLL CALL ( meeting called to order 19:02 hrs. on 02/09/2023 by J. Shipe )
| PRESENT | NAME | CAPACITY | NOTES |
| No | Baumer, Heidi | Treasurer | |
| Yes | Considine, Dan | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Fletcher, William | General Counsel | |
| Yes | Friedlander, David | MFD 1st Assistant Chief | |
| Yes | Morrell, Art | Commissioner | |
| No | Sellman, Tom | Secretary | |
| Yes | Shipe, John | Commissioner | |
| Yes | Shuler, Steve | Commissioner | |
| No | Tschiderer, Steve | MFD Chief | |
| No | Wilsey, Ryan | Commissioner (Chairman) |
OTHER ATTENDEES NOTED
| NAME | CAPACITY | NOTES |
| Gary Wilkins | Wilkins Insurance Agency, Inc. | |
| Mike Arman | MFD President – MFD Board of Directors | |
| Greg Francesco | MFD Line Officer (Captain) | |
| Dale Sweet | MFD District Administrator |
PUBLIC COMMENT
No responses of public comment at the time of offering.
CALENDAR / MEETING ROOM REQUEST REVIEW
J. Shipe initiated a motion to formally approve the request by Troop 105 for the public community room in support of their Feb 3rd & 4th Pinewood Derby. D. Considine seconded the motion which passed with unanimous consent 4-0-0. (Note: this had been approved via email polling earlier).
Request to approve public community room for : April 18th 3-10pm 3rd Battalion Past Chief Dinner A. Morrell motioned to approve with a second by S. Shuler. Motion passed with unanimous consent 4-0-0.
SECRETARY ITEMS
Approval of January 12th, 2023 District Meeting Minutes: Motion to approve by D. Considine with second by S. Shuler. Motion passed with unanimous consent 4-0-0.
DISTRICT INSURANCE PRESENTATION / REVIEW
D. Considine prefaced the presentation by Gary Wilkens with commentary that Gary had been working diligently with information supplied by himself and D. Sweet to generate a proposal that matches what the district has with McNeil today. Dan indicated that there will be a meeting with the McNeil representative next week.
G. Wilkens noted at the beginning of his presentation that his company is a vendor for Rush, Penfield, Egypt, Webster, Brighton, Lakeshore and Point Pleasant Fire Departments. Gary indicated he’d welcome requests to supply contact info for these other departments should Mendon District representatives wish to contact them as reference points.
Gary summarized that there are four companies that write the type of specialty coverages that Mendon requires: ESIP, VFIS, Utica and Selective. Gary supplied four packets of coverage proposal info including: VFIS (which addresses the majority of the coverage needs), 497 NY State Public Entities Safety Group (for volunteer firefighters benefit law and workers compensation coverage), and Provident (accident & health coverage). The discussion session followed for approximately 43 minutes. Gary reminded everyone that the renewal date is March 1st.
CORRESPONDENCE
T. Sellman re-submitted (as Department Secretary) to the commissioners and Chiefs (by email Jan 31st ) an updated LOSAP listing that accounts for the 5 year lookback adjustments (keeping remaining residual values for members that did not make their 50 point minimums). The adjustments were a result of original list submission at the Jan. 12th district meeting that had required added validation by D. Considine. It was agreed by those present that the new adjusted list shall be considered as the accepted LOSAP state record from the Department.
MENDON FIRE DEPT BOARD OF DIRECTORS REPORT
New Member Applicant
M. Arman was going to formally introduce John (‘Jack’) O’Brien, but Jack was not able to make this meeting due to COVID. J. Shipe suggested that since Jack has been: (a) at multiple drills, (b) had recently volunteered to help prepare the department’s monthly-meeting dinner, and (c) all the commissioners have met him, then once he’s been accepted by vote of the department, no further introduction to the commissioner’s is required.
Approval of the Department Clothing Policy Update (Class B)
M. Arman explained that the department has now identified the specific items and vendor for the Class B uniform components. Mike noted that the total cost for an individual (fully outfitted) was approximately $300.
There were suggestions that department make a bulk purchase that encompasses the needs of the current membership to avoid exceeding the dollar amount of district purchasing levels that would require a procurement search for such items – and therefore possibly result in an undesirable end- result.
J. Shipe made a motion to accept the department’s clothing policy (which is referenced directly as the District’s Policy in the District Rules & Regulations). S. Shuler seconded the motioned which passed by unanimous consent 4-0-0.
Department Emails
G. Francesco made a request that all members of the department be issued a department email address to assist in ensuring receipt of department communications. This did not receive approval with a primary argument (raised by A. Morrell) being that it was too burdensome – e.g. members are already managing multiple email accounts and don’t want yet another.
CHIEF’S REPORT (as relayed by 1st Assistant Chief Friedlander)
Chief Tschiderer is out of town in Montour Falls taking Fire Officer 3 classes. He’ll return shortly, but then be away starting Feb. 27th for the last session of Fire Officer 3.
| CALLS (since 01/01/23) | 32 |
| APARATUS DAMAGE | None |
| INJURIES | None |
Purchasing:
Two sets of turn-out gear (for L. Marchese and T. Sellman – their gear expires end of February). These were ordered in the context of a trial, resulting in discounted pricing and a promise of quicker turnaround time.
Order placed for three Slishman traction splints and five generic helmet-fronts.
Small committee considering exterior-only turn-out gear from Viking International : lighter weight, less expensive, quicker order turn-around time.
Operations:
Training
Drills have been very well planned and executed by the training department – thanks relayed from Chief Tschiderer.
Overnight EMS Response
Productive discussion held with DOH, Honeoye Falls Ambulance and Fishers (with second meeting planned). In summary: (1) DOH is fine with the current operations (2) Fishers FD automatic EMS response updated with ECD though a change in hours to span 21:00 to 08:00 for ALS criteria calls in a ‘need for manpower’ context.
EMS Response Matrix
New matrix submitted and updated with Monroe County CD. The updates outline certain lower priority calls that we won’t be automatically called to. The exception would be in circumstances where the ambulance is a mutual aid ambulance.
MVA People Trapped Response
Fishers 971 rescue truck will continue to be automatically dispatched as well as Honeoye Falls FD in the case of MVA coded with ‘people trapped’.
Man-Hour Data exchange with Fishers
A 2nd meeting is scheduled to familiarize each department with the man-hours provided to one another.
MFD Base Radio Issue
Found to be a system wide issue, not just a MFD problem. Reprogramming options are being investigated.
TREASURER’S REPORT
H. Baumer submitted her report in advance including the vouchers and bank balances. D. Considine read the bank balances and then motioned to accept the Treasurer’s Report. S. Shuler seconded with the motion which then passed with unanimous consent 4-0-0. See Appendix A.
D. Considine indicated that he missed getting the Yoga classes cancelled and will be taking care of it.
OPERATIONAL COMMITTEE REPORTS
Capital Projects / Special Projects / Buildings & Grounds (as reported by J. Shipe and S. Shuler)
Projection Screen: It is somewhere between order processing and shipping.
Home Improvement: S. Shuler indicated there’s some tree-trimming and stumps on the agenda. The District is re-bidding lawn work as it has been three years since the last. (Editors note: At the January District meeting, R. Wilsey had asked for an updated spreadsheet of projects at this meeting. This was not addressed at this meeting)
Apparatus ( as reported by A. Morrell )
Art had nothing to report tonight, deferring a discussion of the Chief vehicles until next month.
Personnel ( as reported by D. Considine )
Leadership: Next meeting scheduled for Feb 21st.
Insurance:/EAP: At the end of a discussion regarding EAP, Dan indicated he will look into extending its availability to a larger audience.
District Administrator’s Report: (as given by D. Sweet) See Appendix B for copy of the report. Dale indicated that missing from the written report was the status of the kitchen defibrillator – a new one is being shipped overnight. Dale reviewed the purchase requests. D. Considine made a motion to approve the purchase requests with a second from S. Shuler. The motion passed unanimously 4-0-0.
| PO Number | Item | Amount |
| 2303 | Slishman Traction Splints (3) | 616.45 |
| 2304 | Geneva FD Seminar (qty 2) | 50.00 |
| 2305 | Turnout Gear (qty 2) | 5740.00 |
| 2306 | Generic Helmet Fronts (qty 5) | 291.41 |
Dale expressed concerns and observations regarding the cleanliness of the station in general with it degrading over time (members not cleaning up after themselves). This has also been observed on some occasions after outside organizations have used the facility. A specific case was the condition of the public community meeting space and other areas after the Troop 105 Derby. speak with the Scout organization.
Information/Technology ( from R. Wilsey email, relayed through A. Morrell )
Ryan proposed the following computer upgrade plan:
- Three desktop computers (two from the Chief’s office and one from the radio room) would be re-purposed to the newly established training room. A new laptop would also be acquired for the Chief. Of the three replacement desktop systems, the two for the Chief’s office would be equipped with dual-monitors.
- Quote from Dell : (note: District account allows deferment of payment until March/May)
- three new desktop systems: $ 1994.34
- laptop, new monitors & accessories: $ 1552.93
Ryan requested that this be acted on immediately. D. Considine motioned that the upgrade purchase be approved, with a second by S. Shuler. The motioned passed with unanimous consent (4- 0-0). D. Sweet requested a copy (acknowledged by D. Considine) of the email so he can start filling out the purchase order.
OLD BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
J. Shipe asked if the manpower-report recently distributed by R. Wilsey should be affirmed and sent to Commissioner Dewey of Fishers Fire District. This report indicated an inequity with Fishers being 25 hours behind. S. Shuler motioned to get the report sent to Fishers District in an expedited fashion. The motion was seconded by D. Considine and passed by unanimous consent 4 – 0 – 0
PUBLIC COMMENT
None brought forward.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn at 20:29 proposed by J. Shipe and seconded by S. Shuler with unanimous consent.
Respectfully Submitted by
Tom Sellman
District Secretary, Mendon Fire District
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
