ROLL CALL ( meeting called to order 19:00 hrs. on 02/13/2025 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 | |
| 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 |
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
CALENDAR / MEETING ROOM REQUEST REVIEW
The following meeting room requests (for year 2025) were submitted for approval. D. Considine
motioned to approve the request, seconded by S. Shuler and passing with unanimous consent: 5-0-0.
–April 15: 3rd Battalion Past Chiefs Dinner 10:00 to 22:00
SECRETARY ITEMS
Past Meeting Minutes
S. Shuler motioned to approve the Jan 9th, 2025 District meeting minutes with a second by D. Considine. The motion passed with unanimous consent: 5-0-0.
LOSAP 2024 Data Approval
Department Secretary Sellman submitted the Firefighter Records listing for 2024 to be included in
the submission to Penflex. This listing was emailed to all Department members and posted on the
Department bulletin board starting January 15th, 2025. No corrections have been received as of this
meeting. After review, S. Shuler motioned that the District accept the 2024 Firefighter Record listing
as submitted. The motion was seconded by J. Shipe and passed with unanimous consent: 5-0-0.
There was a brief discussion with respect to the Portfolio Growth Analysis for LOSAP funds that
Secretary distributed mid-January. It was clarified that the analysis is for the collective funds, not on
each individuals account.
MENDON FIRE DEPT BOARD OF DIRECTORS REPORT (President Arman & V.P. Knapp)
- 2025 Department Annual Banquet: There was a discussion regarding the partial funding that the District historically contributed towards the banquet / inspection dinner. The consensus was that the District budgeting towards the Department’s incentive program was a trade-off which precludes the dinner contribution.
- Civil & Line Officer Stipends: The Board approved stipends for 2025 with an approximate increase of 2.5% (in line with Social Security COL increases). As in previous years, all officers may opt-out (as some have historically).
- Department Fund Drive: Letter in development and will be sent out early March.
- 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.
- Recruiting: 2024 – 6 full members & 3 RAM recruited. 2025 – 2 full members & 1 RAM approved. The Department signed up to participate in the Recruit NY Open House Event April 26th.
- Consolidation Question: Mike initiated discussion with respect to the District’s position visa vi a letter from Honeoye Falls Mayor Richard Milne – asking about the accuracy of the content. The consensus of discussion was that it was accurate from the perspective of Honeoye Falls Village. It is felt that Honeoye Falls need to form a fire district and determine how they will fund their current debt before any district to district consolidation effort can be addressed. Since not all commissioner’s had seen the letter (as it was distributed to the larger Community Consolidation Committee) R. Wilsey indicated he would distribute a copy.
- Recruiting Events: Bar-Backs at the Cottage Hotel (no concern by District insurance as long as members are not serving), Community CPR class (15 of 18 slots filled to date).
- Training: Upcoming interview for the part-time trainer. Only one viable candidate for the two available positions.
- NYS V-Fire Grant: C. Knapp reviewed near-term process (included grant-contract signature which Commissioner Wilsey has not received [C. Knapp indicated he’d follow up]), upcoming conference call with NYS to grant recipients to review grant administration details. C. Knapp noted that until the contract is signed and the conference call is participated in, no further progress may be pursued locally.
CHIEF’S REPORT
See Appendix A for content presented in Chief Tschiderer’s report.
Purchase Requests
- Firematic Supply: 10 sections 1.75” cross-lay hose $ 6390.00
- Hotel Room Fire Police Training (N. Rovik): $278.00
- EMS Supply Restock Misc.: $681.55
- PPE Items:
- 4 helmets ( 2 red/2 black ) Witmer Public Safety : total $ 2256.00
- Viking Exterior PPE ( 3 sets ) Jerome Fire Equip. : $ 4909.80
- Structural Boots ( 4 pair ) DiVal Safety : $ 1359.00
- Haix Boots ( 1 pair ) DiVal Safety : $ 388.50
After discussion D. Considine made a motion to approve the purchase requests. This was
seconded by J. Shipe and passed unanimously: 5-0-0.
There was discussion regarding a request (but not approved) for two 16” battery-op fans at a
price of: $ 8947.00.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Treasurer Baumer gave an overview & report of suggestions as an outcome of the recent audit
conducted by the new firm & auditor (Sean Hucko from SVHB). Overall, Treasurer Baumer thought it
was good to work with them and they were really concise and provided good direction. Suggestions
included: (a) provide reconciliation each month with a checking account to be entered into the public
record and (b) District should perform a year-end audit of payroll (e.g. a detailed payroll report for
the year). Heidi did note that Sean does have access to ADP, but a review that we practice would be
good for transparency. The Board reviewed all vouchers presented (See Appendix B) and R. Wilsey
motioned to approve the Treasurer’s report. This was seconded by S. Shuler and passed
unanimously: 5-0-0.
D. Considine gave a status update as to incorrect pay approval amounts for the District
Administrator. By a mechanism not well understood, the administrator was at $ 72,100 but the
increase as implemented resulted in the equivalent of approximately $ 72,500 – where as he should
have been taken to $ 74,263. D. Considine motioned to correct the District Administrator’s pay going
forward and pay the corrected difference. This was seconded by J. Shipe and passed by unanimous
consent: 5-0-0.
OPERATIONAL COMMITTEE REPORTS
Capital Projects / Special Projects / Buildings & Grounds (S. Shuler / J. Shipe)
J. Shipe noted that the one man-door is still being waited on. Snow plowing / tree trimming ongoing.
Apparatus
Commissioner Joint initiated a discussion with respect to 367 noting that he got a response (with
photograph) of the bed-insert that has been under consideration for multiple months. Comments
from the fire department with the insert were positive. Discussion continued with respect to the
projected payload demands based on evaluation of a 3⁄4-ton truck capabilities and the use-case of
the current 367. Weight capacities, cargo space, transmission capabilities, and how trailering
with our current trailer (in concert with truck length [ 6’ vs 8’ bed ] were part of the discussion.
Work still needs to be done for specification of the mini-bid and J. Shipe reminded all that
eventually, this issue/purchase must go before a permissive referendum.
| Vehicle/Equip | Issues/Problems/Plans |
| 364 | No issue |
| 365 | Recently discovered (but yet source unidentified air leak). |
| 367 | No issue |
| 3617 | No issue |
| 3618 | No issue |
| Haul Trailer | No issue |
| 3c16 | No issue |
| 3c26 | No issue |
Personnel & Leadership (from D. Considine)
After review, S. Shuler motioned to accept the District Administrator’s Report. This was seconded
by D. Considine and passed with unanimous consent: 5-0-0.
After discussion, the consensus was to conduct another Leadership Workshop Meeting on March
27th. Topic and time needs to be determined for publication.
Dan also led a brief review with respect to the District and Departments rules/policies that need
to be followed by all members should they have an injury that takes them ‘out-of-service’. Dan
also led a brief discussion reminding the Board that everyone needs to abide by the District Code
of Conduct rules with respect to social media postings – this in response to some unsubstantiated
rumor-mill observations.
Information/Technology (from R. Wilsey)
- Ryan is waiting to inspect a quote with respect to speaker/projector system for the public meeting room.
OLD BUSINESS
Three folks currently being sent to FDIC (R. Wilsey, B. Cook, M. Principe).
NEW BUSINESS
None.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT
At approximately 20:08, J. Shipe made a motion to adjourn the meeting which was seconded by R.
Wilsey, passing by unanimous consent: 5-0-0.
Respectfully Submitted by
Tom Sellman
District Secretary,
Mendon Fire District
