REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
May 14, 2003
The North Carolina Board of Mortuary Science met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting on May 14, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. in the Taft Room, The Grove Park Inn, Asheville, North Carolina.
Present: Harvey Leavitt, President; Alex Lee, Vice President; Jack Briggs, Secretary; Windell Daniels, George Parrott, Jamie Boles, Nancy Rorie and Rudy Lea.
Also Present: Mark E. Henderson, Executive Director; Barry Bloch, General Counsel.
President Harvey Leavitt called the meeting to order at 9:07 a.m.
Mr. Lee gave the invocation.
Mr. Briggs submitted the March minutes for approval. Ms. Rorie made the motion to accept the minutes as submitted and Mr. Parrott seconded. The motion carried.
Disciplinary: Mr. Lee presented the Disciplinary Committee report. Items 1 thru 22 had been previously mailed and Items 23 thru 32 were for review. Mr. Briggs made the motion to change the recommendations for V03-019 from a one-month suspension to six months suspension. Discussion ensued. Mr. Boles seconded the motion and the motion carried.
Mr. Briggs made the motion regarding V03-002 to send a letter of caution and dismissal. Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Parrott made the motion to approve the Disciplinary Committee Report as amended. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried.
At this time Mr. Leavitt read the Board of Ethics statement, Governor Easley’s Executive Order #1. No one recused themselves at this time.
Mr. Leavitt called for a recess at 10:15 and the meeting reconvened at 10:30 a.m. Ms. Rorie was not present at this time.
Mr. Henderson requested time to make some comments regarding the Sanders and Brewington case, V98-036.
Ms. Rorie returned at 10:35.
Mr. Daniels made the motion to reconsider V98-036. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried. Discussion ensued. Mr. Parrott made the motion to approve the judge’s recommended settlement. Mr. Lea seconded the motion and the motion carried.
Financials: Mr. Boles presented the Financials for April and stated the Finance Committee had met on Tuesday. He then turned the balance of the report over to Mr. Henderson. Mr. Henderson stated the Finance Committee was recommending several changes. The first change regarded changing the payroll dates from the 1st and 15th to the 15th and last day of the month. Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept this change. Mr. Boles seconded and the motion carried.
The second change regarded the Board’s health policy. The Finance Committee was recommending the Board’s portion of payment of dependent coverage be changed from 50% to 25% effective July 1, 2003, and to 0% effective January 1, 2004. The third change the Committee was recommending was that effective July 1, 2003, the Board would no longer pay the long-term disability insurance for the employees but have the employees make their own payments. The Committee also recommended increasing each employee’s salary by the amount of each employee’s long-term disability cost. Discussion ensued.
The fourth change was changing the brokerage account from Smith Barney to Prudential because Mr. Baird, the Board’s agent, had moved to Prudential.
Ms. Rorie made the motion to accept the second, third and fourth change as recommended by the Finance Committee. Mr. Daniels seconded and the motion carried.
Preneed: Mr. Lea submitted the Preneed Report. He noted that two new preneed establishments had been licensed since the last report.
Attorney’s Report: Mr. Bloch reported that the status of cases pending was provided to the Board for their review.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Henderson reported on the following items: Senate Bill 550 and House Bill 700 updates; House Bill 859; Senate Bill 956 and House Bill 1151; Senate Bill 540 and House Bill 1041; House Bill 1102; House Bill 1067 and Senate Bill 924; office lease modification and new office copier; Funeral Directors and Morticians Association of North Carolina, Inc. annual convention June 9-12, 2003; North Carolina Funeral Directors Association annual convention June 18-20, 2003; and the Board’s seminar at the Sheraton in Atlantic Beach on June 7th has been finalized. Doug Howard with the U. S. Army Mortuary Affairs, Nelson Hayes with Pierce Chemical Company, Mr. Henderson and Mr. Bloch will be the speakers. A mailing to licensees will be sent week of May 19th.
New Business: Mr. Henderson provided the Board a draft of continuing education rules. The Board is not adopting, but is offering them as an indication of the Board’s future direction should the Board’s statute pass. Questions ensued. Mr. Parrott made the motion to accept the document and Mr. Lee seconded. Motion carried.
Discussion about the Board’s June 7, 2003 continuing education seminar ensued. Mr. Daniels made a motion that if a Board member wanted to attend a Board sponsored continuing education seminar, the Board member should be reimbursed for attending. Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Henderson stated that on current licensing certificates there is a place for each Board member to sign. It was time to reorder the certifications and the law states that only the president and secretary have to sign. Discussion ensued. It was decided that each Board member would continue to sign the licensing certificates.
Mr. Henderson stated he had included several information items under Tab 8.
The Board then went into recess for lunch at 11:15 a.m.
The North Carolina Board of Mortuary Science convened for a duly scheduled Board Hearing on May 14, 2003, at 12:30 p.m. in the in the Taft Room, The Grove Park Inn, Asheville, North Carolina.
Present: Harvey Leavitt, George Parrott, Windell Daniels, Jack Briggs, Jamie Boles and Rudy Lea. Nancy Rorie and Alex Lee were not present.
Also Present: Barry Bloch, General Counsel;
The Board heard evidence in the case of NCBMS v. Beasley’s Funeral Service, Gonzolous Harrington and David L. Beasley.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
Harvey Leavitt, President
Jack Briggs, Secretary