REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
June 18, 2008
The North
Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting at
9:00 a.m. on June 18,2008 at the Board’s office,
Present: Mark
Blake, President; J. T. Willoughby III, Secretary; George Parrott, T. E. White,
Sr., Frank McCree, Rudy Lea, and Jack Briggs.
Larry Andrews was absent.
Also
Present: Paul Harris, Executive
Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Fred Jordan with the NC Eye
Bank, Betty Stoddard with the Funeral Consumers Alliance, Patricia Hayes with
the North Carolina Funeral Directors Association, Dorman Caudle with Carolina
Donor Services, Betty Lynn Snelling, and Lyn Cochrane.
Mr. Blake
called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m., led the Pledge of Allegiance and had
the invocation.
Mr. Blake read
the Ethics Awareness & Conflict of Interest Reminder and Mr. Briggs recused
himself from Disciplinary Cases V08-014 and M08-007.
Mr. Blake asked
for public comment and there was none.
Visitors introduced themselves.
Mr. Willoughby
presented the minutes for the May 14, 2008 meeting. Mr. White made the motion to accept the
minutes and Mr. Parrott seconded. The
motion carried.
Continuing
Education: Mr. Willoughby stated the committee had met
and making two recommendations: On
embalming programs admit to and give CE credit for all licensees in cases when
the presentation is a recorded program.
Only embalmers, funeral service licensees or trainees registered for
those disciplines will be allowed in live demonstrations—based on
90-210.25(a)(5)(c) and 90-210.27A(b).
Discussion ensued. Mr. White made
the motion to approve the recommendation.
Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Harris stated that the wording on the CE applications would be
changed to reflect this change.
The seconded
recommendation regards the online computer based CE programs and allows an
increase of from one hour to two hours.
Mr. Willoughby deferred the meeting to Mr. Harris for comments. Discussion ensued. Mr. Harris stated this would require a rule
change only to the text of the rule. Mr.
Briggs made the motion to approve and Mr. White seconded. The motion carried.
There is a
request for CE approval on a dove release program. Discussion ensued Mr. Briggs made the motion
to accept the CE for 30 minutes. Mr.
McCree seconded. Mr. Briggs, Mr.
Willoughby and Mr. McCree voted yes. Mr.
White, Mr. Parrott, Mr. Lea and Mr. Blake voted no and the motion failed.
Exam Committee:
Mr. White reported eleven individuals took the Laws and Rules on May
20. Ten were first time and one
retake. Two failed (both first time) and
nine passed.
Mr. White
deferred to Mr. Harris. The staff has
contacted two testing companies, Castle World Wide and PSI. PSI has reported that our volume
(approximately 100 applicants per year) is too small for them. The representative from Castle will provide a
price quote. There are a number of
testing companies listed on the website of CLEAR (Council on Licensure, Enforcement
& Regulation) and staff will begin contacting them.
Finance/Personnel:
Mr. Briggs presented the Report.
Mr. Briggs deferred the meeting to Mr. Harris. Several quotes have been received regarding
the mortgage and one more financial institution will be contacted. The health insurance is due for renewal with
a 13.8% increase that was not included in the 2008 budget. This increase will include a deductible for
major medical of $2500. Mr. Briggs made
the motion to approve and Mr. Parrott seconded.
The motion carried. Another
vendor for the publishing of the law books will be sending a proposal. Discussion ensued regarding the inspectors’
gas stipend. Mr. Willoughby made the
motion to allow $200 per inspector. Mr.
White amended the motion with $250 per inspector. Mr. Willoughby seconded the amendment and the
motion carried.
Mr. Blake
thanked Mr. White for agreeing to serve on the Finance/Personnel Committee.
Laws, Rules
& Legislation: Mr. Briggs stated the Committee is scheduled
to meet after the Board meeting today.
Preneed
Committee: In Mr. Andrews’ absence, Mr. Harris presented
the report.
The Preneed
committee met May 28 and were recommending the following: When contracts are registered with insurance
funding that is 100% or greater than the funeral expenses, the Board staff will
request a copy of the assignment to ensure the consumers protection is
evident. On the pre-need the wording:
Assignment as the Funeral Home’s interest may appear at the death of the
insured and delivery of services and merchandising as recorded on the preneed
statement of goods and services selected.
Mr. Willoughby made the motion to accept the recommendation. Mr. Lea seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake called for the vote and the motion
passed.
The seconded
recommendation regards the use of 1st/2nd to die policies
to fund contracts for two people when there is only sufficient policy proceeds
to pay for one funeral. A 1st/2nd
to die policy should not be used to fund a preneed contract and should be sent
back by the staff. Mr. Briggs made the
motion and Mr. White seconded. The
motion carried.
Disciplinary: Mr. Lea
recused himself from V08-030. It was
brought to Mr. Briggs attention that he should recuse himself from M04-008 and
he did. Mr. Parrott made the motion
include the addendum and remove cases M04-008, M08-007, V08-014 and
V08-030. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion
carried. Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the
staff recommendation to summary suspend the funeral home license for Case
M07-017. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion
carried.
Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the Disciplinary report with the
addition of sending a letter of caution with regards to Case V08-030 and not to
include four cases previously mentioned.
Mr. White seconded and the motion carried. It was noted Mr. Lea voted in error because
V08-030 was included. Mr. Briggs changed
the motion to accept the Disciplinary report with the exception of M04-008,
M08-007, V08-014 and V08-030. Mr. White
seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the recommendations of the
Disciplinary Committee in additional to sending a letter of caution with
regards to Case V08-030. Mr. White
seconded and the motion carried. Mr. Lea
did not vote. Mr. White made the motion
to accept the recommendation of the Disciplinary Committee for Cases M04-008,
M08-007 and V08-014. Mr. Willoughby
seconded and the motion carried. Mr.
Briggs did not vote.
Mr. Parrott presented a final case on which the Committee could not reach
a decision. An application for a
Transport License had been received and the principal has prior
convictions. Discussion ensued.
At this time the Board recessed for five minutes.
Mr. White made the motion to issue a Notice of Hearing for the July
meeting for Case M08-008. Mr. Parrot
seconded and the motion carried.
Laws, Rules and Legislation: Mr. Briggs deferred to Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris made comments on the final draft
of the licensed guidelines documents and the continuing review of rules drafts.
Attorney Report: Mr. Dirksen
presented the report. Mr. Dirksen gave
the status of a consent order injunction in Guilford County.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Harris
submitted the Inspectors Monthly Status Reports for review.
Since the May 14 Board Meeting, twelve reports have been filed. Establishment Changes: New funeral homes: Chappell-Washington Funeral Home, Raleigh;
Garnes & Toney’s Funeral Service, Spring Hope; Genesis Funeral Home,
Shelby. Ownership changes: two
pending. Closings: Jordan Funeral Homes, Wilmington. Name and Location Change: Davis Funeral Home-Jordan Memorial Chapel,
Wilmington (Formerly French I. Davis moved to former Jordan Wilmington
location). New Crematory: Heritage Funeral Service, Inc., Valdese.
New funeral service licensees:
Tamara Berry, Jonathan Prather, Jackson Taylor, Ada Harvell, R. Adam
Harris, Ursula Belle.
Converted to FS: Donald Shearin,
Jared Gelo, Michael Barnhart, Sr.
New funeral directors: Anna
Phillips, Miriam Mabry.
New trainees: Roderick Goode, Jr.,
Edith Change, Michael Braswell, Betty Jones, Mary Taylor, Paul Howard, Jr.,
Arthur Sellers III, Michelle Wilcox, Richard Ratzlaff, Achillera Tyson, Maurice
McNeil, Shelia Shipp, Lindsay Caudle.
Ethics Report: Mr. Harris attended
the FD & MA of NC, Inc. conference in Wilmington and has had telephone
calls with the NCFDA.
NC Medical Board and Vital Records have reviewed the draft letter to the
NC Hospital Association and NC Medical Board.
It will be signed and mailed in July.
Board signatures on old license certificates are fading and several
licenses have requested they be refreshed.
Mr. Harris has spoken to the vendor that provides the calligraphy for
the new certificates and she will retrace the names on Mr. Harris’ certificate
as a test for others.
A meeting with the auditors and Mr. Blake is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on
Friday, June 20th.
Mr. Harris has mailed letters to four trainees suspending their
traineeship because of late reports.
They are to meet with Traineeship Committee before re-starting. Discussion ensued.
Blackman Security will be doing Security/Safety training for the
inspectors. The Crematory Authority will
meet at 10:00 a.m. on July 23. The
Crematory Authority nominations open July 1.
A Preneed Review is schedule for 9:00 a.m. on July 29.
New Business: The Petition for Nomination of Candidate for N. C.
Crematory authority was presented for approval.
Mr. Parrott made the motion to accept the form. Mr. White seconded and the motion carried.
Old Business: There was
none.
Public Comment:
There was none.
Informational Items: The Summer
2008 edition of The Conference Report is included.
Mr. Blake
recessed the meeting to reconvene at 11:00 a.m. for the Hearings.
The Board
reconvened at 11:00 a.m. to hear a motion with regards to Thursday’s hearing
for Terence Rountree. There was a quorum
present. Mr. Rountree spoke on his
behalf and asked for a continuance. This
was the second request for continuance.
Questions ensued. Mr. White made
the motion to grant the continuance until the July meeting. Mr. McCree seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake called for the vote and the motion
carried. Mr. Lea and Mr. Parrott did not
participate.
Mr. Harris
informed the Board the FD&MA of NC, Inc. nominated Mr. T. E. White for
appointment by the Governor to the Board for another term.
The Board
meeting adjourned at 11:10 a.m.
Mark
Blake, President
J.T.
Willoughby III, Secretary