MENDON FIRE DISTRICT MINUTES
December 8, 2020
The meeting was called to order at 19:07 Hrs.
Attending: Art Morrell, Dan Considine, John Shipe, Steve Shuler, Ryan Wilsey, Secretary John McGinnis, Treasurer Heidi Baumer, William Fletcher, Counsel, P.Kester, D.Friedlander, L.Marchese
Absent: Heidi Baumer
Public Comment: NTR
Calendar & Requests for Meeting Room: NTR
Correspondence: NTR
Board of Directors:
-The President reported that he has one item for the Chief: an attorney request for information about a prior accident call where MFD responded.
Chief’s Report:
–YTD Calls: 247 Damage: 0 Injury: 0
-Chief reported a recall for vehicle 3C-26.
-The Chief requested approval to pursue the purchase of five I-Pads at approximately $384.00 each to keep up with the county CAD project. Steve Shuler made a motion to approve this, 2nd by J. Shipe. Motion approved unanimously 5-0.
-The Chief presented purchase requisition#20-18 for Fire Training Simulation Software. R,Wilsey made a motion to approve the purchase, 2nd by A.Morrell. Motion approved unanimously 5-0.
-The previously discussed purchase of a gear dryer will be postponed until 2021 and J.Shipe will investigate further.
Minutes
–R.Wilsey made a motion to approve the November minutes, 2nd by D.Considine. Motion approved unanimously 5-0.
Treasurer’s Report:
–R,Wilsey made a motion to call for a special meeting December 30, 2020 at 7PM to discuss and approve the annual year-end budget adjustments; and to approve the Treasurer’s report. 2nd by S.Shuler. Motion approved unanimously 5-0.
Committee reports
Capital Projects/Special Projects:
-Generator project: is proceeding to conclusion, the generator should be online next week. J.Shipe has located a supplier of fireproofing paint and will proceed with obtaining the paint.
-SCBA Project: there will be a demonstration either at MFD or HFFD on 12/14/2020.
-Interior Painting Project: quotes are beginning to come in.
Apparatus:
-3C-26 is out-of-service.
Building Grounds:
-Josh Landscape did a fall clean-up, the work was performed satisfactorily.
Personnel:
-Dale’s Report: R.Wilsey made a motion to approve Dale’s report, 2nd
by J.Shipe. Motion approved unanimously 5-0.
-Leadership: Plan to resume leadership meetings in February, 2021.
-Recruitment and Retention:
-LOSAP set-up work needs to be done to have everything in place for the referendum on the 12/14/2021 election ballot. D.Considine referenced Tony Hill as a possible LOSAP administrator.
Information Technology:
-The low bid for a new phone system from Convergent Telecom was presented. Installation cost is $607.87 and $274.26 per month for leased phones. Contract is for 36 months. Another bid from Spectrum is attached to the hard copy of these minutes, it stated an installation cost of $2450.00 and a monthly cost of
$401.00. S.Shuler made a motion to approve Convergent Tech. as the new phone supplier, 2nd. by D.Considine. Motion approved unanimously 5-0.
-Installation of Key Fob system will begin 12/9 with an approximate installation time of 3 days.
Old Business:
-J.Shipe reported that there was an incident of vouchers being approved without the required signatures by two commissioners. Vouchers from August on need to be reviewed by the commissioners for proper sign-off .
New Business:
-The Board decided that a potential film project by a potential donor will not take place for the time being.
-The NYS Cancer Inventory was due 12/1/20. Just cancer claims are due, district has none.
Executive Session:
–At 20:20hrs R.Wilsey made a motion for the Board to go into executive session for (1) the purpose of reviewing the personal conduct and line officer qualifications of a current line officer; and (2) Discuss Department member behavior during the current election campaign; 2nd by J.Shipe. Motion approved unanimously 5-0.
(Secretary’s note: the name of the individual under discussion will not be
Printed in these minutes due to privacy concerns. Anyone requiring
Information on this matter should consult the District Chairman or the
Department Chief.)
Referencing item#1, the individual in question has exhibited documented failures in leadership and operational skills required for a line officer. This individual has also exhibited inappropriate behavior when counseled about these issues. It is the feeling of the Chief that this behavior cannot continue and the Board concurs. The Board and the Chief both feel that the primary goal is to retain this individual as a member and so recommend the Chief redirect this individual’s career path in a direction that he can handle and that the Chief be supported by other line officers in this task.
Referencing item#2, it was clearly shown on social media and by interpersonal interaction that the conduct of certain members of the Mendon Fire Dept. was completely inappropriate. The Board agrees and this will be addressed in future meetings of the Department and in the Board Leadership meetings resuming in February.
-At 20:45Hrs. Ryan Wilsey made a motion to close the executive session, 2nd by J.Shipe. Motion approved unanimously 5-0.
-The following hard copy items are attached to the District hard copy of the minutes:
1)Dale’s Report
2)Treasurer’s Report
3) Bid from Spectrum for Phone Service.
Adjournment: A motion to adjourn was made by R.Wilsey, 2nd by S.Shuler
Motion approved unanimously 5-0, meeting adjourned at 20:50 hrs.
Respectfully Submitted,
John M. McGinnis
Secretary
Mendon Fire District
*The intent of public comment time is to allow a non-commission member to comment on any topic. The commenter may not receive an answer to their question or a response to their comment, as the board may need to research a subject or confer with counsel on the topic prior to giving a response. The time allotted for each person commenting is limited to three (3) minutes.