REGULAR BOARD MEETING

 

MINUTES

 

September 10, 2003

 

 

 

The North Carolina Board of Mortuary Science met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting on September 10, 2003, in the Board’s office located at 2321 Crabtree Boulevard, Raleigh, North Carolina.

 

Present:  Harvey Leavitt, President; Alex Lee, Vice President; Jack Briggs, Secretary; Windell Daniels, George Parrott, Jamie Boles, Nancy Rorie, Paul Harris, and Rudy Lea

 

Also Present:  Mark E. Henderson, Executive Director; Steve Dirksen, General Counsel; Dan Shackleford, Jody Tyson, Ed Burney, Kevin Hagen, Chad Hall, Bill Joyner, and Pat Hayes.

 

President Harvey Leavitt called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m.

 

Mr. Harris gave the invocation.

 

Mr. Briggs submitted the July minutes for approval.  Mr. Boles noted that he did not submit the Preneed Report for July but Mr. Harris did.  Mr. Parrott made the motion to accept the minutes as corrected and Mr. Harris seconded.  The motion carried.

 

Disciplinary:  Mr. Lee presented the Disciplinary Committee report.  Mr. Harris made the motion to accept the Disciplinary report.  Mr. Lea seconded the motion 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.

 

Finance/Personnel:  Mr. Boles referred the report to Mr. Henderson.  Mr. Henderson reviewed the August financials and noted the expense side was doing well but due to the decrease in preneed contracts, the income side was below budget amounts.  Discussion ensued.  Mr. Daniels made the motion to accept the financial report and Ms. Rorie seconded.  The motion carried. 

 

Preneed:  Mr. Harris submitted the Preneed Report under Tab 7.  He reported the Preneed Manual would be discussed under the New Business.  Mr. Daniels made the motion to accept the Preneed report.  Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion carried.

 

Attorney’s Report:  Mr. Dirksen reported that the status of cases pending was provided to the Board for their review. 

 

 

Executive Director’s Report:  Mr. Henderson recommended a grace period until January 1, 2004, to allow for a better transition to the new forms due to the late passage of the statute changes.  Due to a backlog of Disciplinary matters there will be hearings for the next several months beginning on the Tuesday afternoon before the Board meeting on Wednesday and possibly continuing after the Board meeting on Wednesday afternoon.  Rule-making changes will begin and the Board Fees and Board rules will be done as two separate items.  A newsletter will be mailed out before October 1 outlining statute changes.  New forms will be mailed to the crematories and the updated Preneed Manuals and preneed forms will be mailed to preneed licensees.  The blue law book is outdated but will not be replaced until after the Board revises its rules.  A list of newly licensed establishments and licensees since the last Board meeting was included for the Board members.  Mr. Henderson presented a letter from a funeral home that wanted to know if they could use Crematory in the name of their two funeral homes even if only one had the crematory on site.  Mr. Briggs made the motion to authorize Mr. Henderson to notify the funeral home that after October 1, 2003, they could not use that name for both of their establishments.  Mr. Lee seconded and the motion carried.  Mr. Henderson stated a licensee had asked if an old license number could be issued for a new licensee.  Mr. Daniels made the motion not to reissue old license numbers.  Ms. Rorie seconded and the motion carried.  Mr. Henderson provided the members with a fee increase sheet.  The finance committee was recommending approval.  Mr. Parrott made the motion to table this request until the October meeting so the Board could review the fee increases.  Mr. Harris seconded the motion and the fee increase issue was tabled until the next meeting.

 

Mr. Leavitt called for a recess at 9:55 and the meeting reconvened at 10:02 a.m.   

 

New Business:  Mr. Kevin Hagen with Mitchell Funeral Home spoke to the Board regarding the law change effective October 1, 2003, and how it will affect applicants for licenses.  Mr. Lee made the motion to allow any candidate that took and passed the Board exam on September 9, 2003, be issued a license regardless of when the Board learns the exam results.  Mr. Parrott seconded the motion and the motion carried.

 

Mr. Henderson presented the new cremation forms for approval.  He stated the cremation authorization form was a model form only and the crematories could use their own cremation form as long as the required items appeared on their form.  Discussion ensued.  Mr. Boles made the motion to accept these forms as amended and Ms. Rorie seconded.  The motion carried.

 

Mr. Henderson presented amended preneed forms and an updated Preneed Manual.  After review of the forms, Mr. Harris made the motion that the forms be approved and effective October 1, 2003 but not to require their use until January 1, 2004.  Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion carried.  Mr. Harris made the motion to accept the updated Preneed Manual and Mr. Lea seconded.  The motion carried.

 

Mr. Henderson stated he had spoken with a real estate broker regarding the purchase of property for the Board and offered his findings.  Discussion ensued.  Mr. Henderson was asked to continue his search for property and to report his findings to the Board.

 

Mr. Henderson turned the meeting over to Mr. Daniels to report on the Continuing Education seminar on December 9, 2003.  Mr. Daniels asked Mr. Harris to report his findings on proposed speakers.  Mr. Harris presented the names of Nicole Brown with the North Carolina Department of Labor to offer 2 hours of CE and Dennis Dalton who would offer 3 hours of CE for one of the rooms.  Mr. Boles presented the name of Christopher Layton who would offer 5 hours of CE for the other room.  Discussion ensued regarding speaker fees.  Mr. Daniels made the motion to accept the speakers as presented for the December program and their honorariums and expenses.  Ms. Rorie seconded.  Discussion ensued and the motion carried.

 

Mr. Leavitt called for a recess at 11:15 and the meeting reconvened at 11:30 a.m.   

 

At this time Mr. Harris made the motion to go into closed session to consider an employee and individual applicant matter.  Ms. Rorie seconded and the motion carried.

 

Upon proper motion the Board returned to open session at 12:13 with no action taken upon the employee or individual applicant matters.

 

Informational Items:  Mr. Henderson stated these items were presented for information only.

 

The meeting was recessed at 12:15 p.m.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                                    Harvey H. Leavitt III, President

 

 

                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                                    Jack Briggs, Secretary