REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
March 5, 2003
The North Carolina Board of Mortuary Science met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting on March 5, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. in the Board’s office located at 2321 Crabtree Boulevard, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Present: Harvey Leavitt, President; Alex Lee, Vice President; Jack Briggs, Secretary; Paul Harris, Windell Daniels, George Parrott, Jamie Boles and Nancy Rorie
Also Present: Mark E. Henderson, Executive Director; Barry Bloch, General Counsel; Patricia Hayes, Dan Shackleford, Jody Tyson, Bill Joyner and Nelson Hayes.
President Harvey Leavitt called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m.
Mr. Leavitt read the Board of Ethics statement, Governor Easley’s Executive Order #1. No one recused themselves at this time.
Mr. Leavitt gave the invocation.
Disciplinary: Mr. Lee presented the Disciplinary Committee report. Mr. Harris made the motion to approve the recommendations of the Disciplinary Committee and Mr. Parrott seconded. Motion carried.
Financials: Mr. Boles presented the Financials for January and February noting the February financials were incomplete since the bank statements for the month had not been received. Mr. Boles submitted the Board Accounting Manual for approval. Mr. Leavitt seconded. Mr. Henderson commented on the manual and discussion ensued. Mr. Leavitt called for the vote and the motion to approve the new Board Accounting Manual was carried.
Preneed: Mr. Henderson submitted the Preneed Report and made comments regarding preneed revenues and inspector reports.
Attorney’s Report: Mr. Bloch reported that the status of cases pending was provided to the Board for their review. Mr. Bloch stated consent orders for late renewals had been mailed to licensees.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Henderson reported on the following items: The Board’s website database of licensees had been updated as of February 14, 2003. The domain name of www.ncbfs.org has been registered in case the Board’s name changes to the North Carolina Board of Funeral Service.
Mr. Henderson has taught continuing education classes in Matthews and Winston-Salem. He also attended the Funeral Directors and Morticians Association of North Carolina, Inc. continuing education class in Charlotte and the North Carolina Funeral Directors Association meeting in Southern Pines. Mr. Henderson is scheduled to attend the Cremation Association of North Carolina meeting in Pinehurst and will teach a portion of that meeting along with two other upcoming continuing education programs.
Mr. Henderson is currently enrolled in the Pathology class at Fayetteville Technical Community College.
The State Property Office has not yet approved the architectural changes to the Board’s office space.
The North Carolina Funeral Directors Association Educational Conference and Exposition that was scheduled for February 16 through February 18, 2003, at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Research Triangle Park has been rescheduled for April 13 through April 15, 2003.
The International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards will hold their Annual Convention at the Hyatt Regency in Orange County, California, April 12-13. Mr. Henderson will handle registration for any interested Board member.
New Business: Mr. Leavitt introduced Nelson Hayes and Bill Joyner who had comments regarding continuing education classes.
Mr. Henderson presented the proposed program schedule for the Spring CE to be held May 13 in Asheville.
Mr. Henderson stated the annual Mutual Burial Association assessment amount for 2003 was recommended at $100.00 per association and $.35 per member, which is the same as 2002. Mrs. Rorie made the motion to accept these amounts. Mr. Harris seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Henderson stated he had received a request from a licensee that had received a Consent Order for late renewal regarding the $500 compromise penalty for his personal license and $500.00 compromise penalty for his establishment license. The licensee was requesting that the Board waive one of the fees since his was a small funeral firm. Discussion ensued. Mr. Parrott made the motion to change the fee to $250 and Ms. Rorie seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs made the motion to amend the motion to one $500 fee and change the fees for the year 2004 to $250 per instance. Mr. Parrott seconded the motion. Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs withdrew his motion. Mr. Parrott then made the motion to change the penalty fee for the year 2004 from $500 per instance to $250 per instance. Mr. Boles seconded and the amended motion carried.
The Board discussed whether to have independent legal counsel present at hearings to serve as legal advisor to the Board. The cost for this would be about $160.00 - $175.00 per hour. The Board decided to continue its current practice of having an attorney available by phone.
Mr. Henderson presented two preneed forms that had been modified. One had the insurance company name at the top of the form and the other form had an insurance form number at the bottom. Discussion ensued. Ms. Rorie made the motion to allow funeral homes and insurance companies to modify the contract by adding their name to the contracts as long as there is no change to the language or the size of the printing on the contract. Mr. Daniels seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Henderson reported that after speaking and meeting with Sen. Hagan, he believed she would introduce the Board’s statute to the Legislature. Mr. Henderson stated that after meeting with Sen. Hagan, he had made several changes to the statute based on requests and comments from the NCFDA and their legal counsel.
Mr. Daniels made the motion to accept the amendments to the statute and Mr. Parrott seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Leavitt called for the vote and the motion carried.
At this point Ms. Rorie departed the meeting (11:25 a.m.).
Mr. Henderson stated that the NCFDA had requested that the Board adopt a policy whereby licensees could get written opinions of the Board’s position on complex “pecking order” questions. Mr. Harris made the motion to grant authority to the Executive Director and the Legal Counsel to expedite requests concerning the pecking order when a funeral home puts a request in writing to the Board. Discussion ensued. Mr. Daniels seconded the motion and the motion carried.
The NCFDA has requested a written policy on the standards for continuing education approval.
The NCFDA has requested that wording be added to the proposed statute to extend the same type of liability protection to the funeral service/funeral director as the proposed statute extends to the crematory operators.
Mr. Henderson requested approval of the Annual Report to the Legislature. Mr. Daniels made the motion to approve the Annual Report. Mr. Boles seconded and the motion carried.
At this point Mr. Lee departed the meeting (12:00 noon).
Mr. Leavitt addressed the Board with his goals for 2003.
(1) Reduce the Disciplinary case load
(2) Make the website more user friendly and not just for licensees
(3) Continued improvement of the continuing education classes offered
(4) Have the Executive Director represent the Board at the Legislature
(5) Begin the process of updating the rules
(6) Explore ways for becoming more prudent with the finances
(7) Continue improvement of the inspections and audits
The Board recessed for ten minutes.
Following the recess, Mr. Jonathan Carr, attorney for the North Carolina Funeral Directors Association, made comments concerning the Board’s proposed legislation.
At this time Mr. Harris made the motion to go into closed session to consider the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness or conditions of initial employment of an employee or prospective employee. Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion carried.
Upon proper motion, the meeting returned to open session. Mr. Leavitt stated there was no action from the closed session.
The North Carolina Board of Mortuary Science convened for a duly scheduled Board Hearing on March 5, 2003, at 12:55 p.m. in the Board’s office located at 2321 Crabtree Boulevard, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Present: Harvey Leavitt, Paul Harris, George Parrott, Windell Daniels, Jack Briggs, and Jamie Boles. Nancy Rorie and Alex Lee were not present.
Also Present: Barry Bloch, General Counsel; Jose A. Coker, Esq., of the law firm the Charleston Group, on behalf of H. M. Colvin, Jr., and H. M Colvin Funeral Home, Inc.
The Board proceeded with a formal hearing on the matter of H. M. Colvin, Jr., and H. M. Colvin Funeral Home, Inc. After counsel appeared on the record and the Board noted the absence of Mr. Colvin, Mr. Coker made two motions, for a continuance and for an extension of time in which to file responses to the Board’s Discovery Request. Mr. Bloch and Mr. Coker explained the basis and need for the additional time. Mr. Coker explained that primary counsel for the Respondents, R. Jonathan Charleston, Esq., has not had sufficient time to prepare for the hearing due to other litigation in Superior Court involving complex issues. Mr. Bloch indicated he did not oppose the Motions and clarified that the new hearing date should be set for the Board’s July meeting because the next meeting is set for Asheville and because respondents are entitled to have their formal hearings at the Board’s place of business, in Raleigh. Mr. Bloch also requested that, if the Board granted additional time in which to respond to discover to the respondents, it should grant no more than thirty days. Mr. Coker agreed that thirty days should be sufficient. Upon motion properly made and seconded the Board voted to grant these two motions and directed Mr. Bloch to prepare a new Notice of Hearing accordingly.
Mr. Daniels made the motion for a continuance and Mr. Parrott seconded. The motion carried.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
Harvey Leavitt, President
Jack Briggs, Secretary