REGULAR BOARD
MEETING
MINUTES
August 13, 2008
The North Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly
scheduled Board Meeting at 9:00 a.m. on August 13, 2008 at the Board’s office,
Present: Mark Blake, President; Larry Andrews, Vice
President; J. T. Willoughby III, Secretary; Rudy Lea, Jack Briggs, T. E. White,
Sr., Frank McCree and
Also Present: Paul
Harris, Executive Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Herb Reichlin
with the Funeral Consumers Alliance, Larry Stegall and Pat Hayes with the North
Carolina Funeral Directors Association, Fred Jordan with the N. C. Eye Bank,
Dorman Caudle with Carolina Donor Services, Betty Lynn Snelling with Cremation
Association of North Carolina, Funeral Service licensee Dan Funchess and
Mr. Blake called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of
Allegiance. Mr. Willoughby had the
invocation.
Mr. Blake read the Ethics Awareness & Conflict of
Interest Reminder and Mr. Briggs recused himself from discussion and voting
with regards to the mortgage rate discussion under Finance and Personnel. Mr. White stated he had attended the Funeral
Directors & Mortician Associations Annual Meeting.
Mr. Blake asked for public comment and there was none. Visitors introduced themselves.
Mr. Willoughby presented the minutes for the July 16,
2008. Mr. Andrews made the motion to
accept the minutes and Mr. White seconded.
The motion carried.
Clinics: Mr. Lea stated
there were 24 licensees/funeral home staff in attendance at the August 5, 2008
clinic. Discussion ensued regarding the
limited number of seats available for the remote broadcast from
Exam Committee:
Mr. White reported nine applicants took the exam on June 24—eight first
time, one retake. Two failed (first
time) and seven passed. Nine applicants took the exam on July 22—seven first
time, 2 retakes. Seven passed (five
first time and both retakes) and two failed—both first time.
Pathology Exam results since January 1, 2008. Seventeen exams have been scheduled through
August 11. Nine passed, seven failed,
one person did not show up for first scheduled exam and failed the second
attempt. Three who failed initially have
retaken the exam and passed.
The committee is reviewing the items that have been answered
incorrectly 30% or greater in the laws and rules exam. A report and any recommendations on specific
questions will be presented at the September meeting.
Quotes are being reviewed for the computer based Laws and
Rules exam and will be presented at the September meeting.
Finance/Personnel:
Mr. Briggs presented the July financials and stated Finance/Personnel
had met by teleconference on August 12, 2008 and reviewed proposals for
refinancing the Board’s mortgage. The
Committee recommended acceptance of the proposal from the current lender and to
negotiate the early payoff fee.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Willoughby
made the motion to accept the Committee recommendation. Mr. Lee seconded and the motion carried. Mr. Briggs had previously recused himself
from discussion and vote and only acted as Committee Chair.
At this time Mr. Briggs yielded the floor to Mr. Harris to
discuss several accounts on the P&L vs. Actual.
Mr. Briggs stated that in addition to the mortgage, staff
had looked at other banking facilities with the mortgage.
The staff recently learned the State of
Laws, Rules & Legislation: Mr. Briggs yielded to Mr. Harris who
presented the Committee’s three recommendations: (1) Notify all transport and removal services
that the permit only allows the transportation and removal of a deceased and
does not convey any ability to arrange for embalming or other services unless
they also hold an appropriate license from the Board. In addition, the Board has not enforced the
statute to require all individuals to be permitted but, with previous notice,
include advisory that beginning immediately all individuals who are working for
another permit hold are to submit fingerprint cards and the appropriate
fee. Beginning with the 2009 renewal
cycle all individuals working as transporters shall apply for the permit. Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the
Committee recommendation and Mr. Lea seconded.
The motion carried. (2) A
proposal by Richard Andrews with Andrews Mortuary in
At this time Mr. Blake requested attention be directed back
to the Finance & Personnel report, Item 3 that had been omitted from the
original report. Mr. Briggs yielded the
floor to Mr. Harris. At the July meeting
staff had been directed to research the best investment opportunities for the
Wachovia Securities money market account.
Mr. Harris explained his recent conversation with the Wachovia
Securities representative and the reserves currently held there are in bank
deposit security with the money market.
Mr. Briggs stated this was for information only.
Mr. Harris continued with Laws and Rules and discussion of
the current status of Bills in the 2008 short session.
Preneed Committee:
Mr. Andrews presented the preneed report and the list of 2008 Change of
Ownership/New funeral homes that have obtained the bonding requirement. Mr. Andrews yielded the floor to Mr. Harris
for discussion of a Department of Insurance matter. Staff was contacted by the DOI who were
reviewing a filing for Unity Financial Life Insurance Company, which writes
some preneed. Concerns were related to
their request to approve a “trust” that would own the policy of the purchasers
and would not attach that policy to a preneed contract or a specific funeral
home. Staff is reviewing the matter
along with two other websites that appear to offer the same “Irrevocable
Funeral Trust.”
Disciplinary Committee: Mr. Parrott stated he would bring the report
in three separate sections. The first
was recommendations. The committee was
recommending that on late filing or unfiled death certificates, if
investigation determines the licensee is a fault, a Letter of Caution will be
issued in the first instance. If repeat
or multiple instances, a strongly worded letter of caution, with a copy to the
deputy registrar in the location and inform State Vital Records. A copy of the policy will be forwarded to
State Vital Records for distribution to deputy registrars.
The staff and committee have reviewed the status of pending
cases (4 from 2005 and 4 from 2006 pending resolution). At the September meeting a recommendation
will be brought for most if not all of the cases. In addition a recommendation for cases to be
referred to OAH, which may include some cases from 2005 and 2006 but more
recent cases.
The staff is investigating allegations of violations by a
licensee that may require immediate Board consideration. The committee may request a special meeting
prior to the September meeting for this matter.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the
three recommendations from the Disciplinary Committee. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Parrott then presented the
Addendum to the Disciplinary Committee Report for consideration. Mr. Briggs recused himself from M07-002
because he had prior knowledge of the case.
Mr. White made the motion to accept M07-002 and Mr. Andrews
seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake called for the vote and the motion
carried. Mr. Briggs did not participate
in the discussion or vote. Mr.
Willoughby made the motion to accept the recommendations for M08-008 and
M08-012. Mr. White seconded and the
motion carried.
Mr. Parrott then presented the
Disciplinary Committee Report.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs
made the motion to accept the report and to send the strong Letter of Caution
regarding V08-021 and V08-035. Mr.
Andrews seconded. Discussion
continued. Mr. Blake called for the vote
and the motion carried. Mr. Harris will
have the inspector for the firms involved in V08-021 and V08-035 examine their
records.
At this time there was a
ten-minute recess.
Traineeship Committee: Mr. Blake stated the committee
had met with three of four trainees whose traineeships were suspended due to
either consistently late reports, missing reports or failure to respond to
staff requests for the reports. The
three that were in attendance were allowed to continue their respective
traineeships with the understanding that failure to comply with discussed terms
would result in recommendation to the Board that the traineeships would be terminated.
Mr. Blake deferred to Mr. Harris
on the fourth trainee. Mr. Harris stated
this trainee had completed the traineeship requirements prior to the late
reports but was continuing as a trainee.
She wants to proceed with certification of the traineeship. Discussion ensued.
Attorney Report: Mr. Dirksen stated the 11:00
hearing request had been withdrawn and was included with the Disciplinary
Committee report and accepted and the 1:00 hearing originally scheduled had
requested a first continuance and met all the guidelines. Mr. Parrott made the motion to grant the
continuance and Mr. Lea seconded. The
motion carried. Mr. Dirksen stated
another 1:00 hearing had been scheduled for the afternoon. Mr. Dirksen then presented his report.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Harris submitted the
Inspectors Monthly Status Reports for June and July for review.
Since the June 18 Board Meeting
thirty-nine reports have been filed.
Establishment Changes: New
funeral homes—New Beginnings Funeral Service in
New funeral service
licensees: Randy Barker, Charles
McNeill, Kelly Osborne, Richard Toker, and Kim Marshall.
New trainees: James Wilkinson IV, Joshua Edwards, Charles
Thompson Jr., Matthew Jernigan, Dustin Byers, Melissa Perkins, Gladys Cooper,
Harry Smith Jr., Vondia Smith, Jonathan Ball, David Moore, Stephen Plummer,
Bethanie Skeens, James Haire, Duane Thomas, George Johnson, Richard McDaris and
Ethienne Rodriguez.
Staff Ethics Report: Meetings and discussion with North Carolina
Funeral Directors Association, Funeral Directors and Morticians Association of
North Carolina, Inc., and the Funeral Consumers Alliance. A Board Member is also on the Legislative
Committee for one of the Associations and staff is seeking an opinion on that.
The letter to the NC Medical Board
and NC Hospital Association is ready to be mailed. The Medical Board asked not to be
signatory. There were twelve attendees
at the Preneed Review on July 29. The
Crematory Authority met on July 23 and discussion included requirement of permanent numbers on the 56
series forms, request for staff to draft a combination form for 56A, B and C
forms that will be allowed but not required of crematories., air quality rule
making, and draft of a cremation manual similar to the preneed manual.
The Board’s audit report has been
mailed to required agencies and others that have requested copies. The printer of the Board’s newsletter had
submitted a letter of apology for the error in computing the cost of the last
newsletter that had been mailed. The
older computer server that was used for emergency backup only failed
yesterday. Staff will research repair or
replacement. A price quote for
Security/Safety training for inspectors will be submitted by Blackmon Detective
Agency. Five valid crematory nominations
have been received. Mr. Dirksen
mentioned that the Rule requires approval at the first Board meeting after
August 1. Staff will provide the
Crematory Authority ballot for consideration after the hearing today.
New Business: None from the staff. Mr. Blake entertained discussion of an
October 2008 Board meeting at
Old Business: Mr. Blake recognized Mr. Harris
who deferred to Mr. Dirksen for a trainee application matter. Mr. Blake requested completion of the Board
agenda then to discuss the trainee matter.
Informational items: Mr. Harris submitted letters
from the Office of the Speaker, House of Representatives, appointing Elizabeth
Webber to serve on the Board effective January 1, 2009 to continue until
December 31, 2011, and from the President Pro Tempore of the NC Senate,
appointing
Public Comment: There was none.
Mr. Blake then deferred back to
Mr. Dirksen for the trainee application matter. Mr. Briggs
made the motion to approve the traineeship application for Ms. Brown. Mr. Parrott seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake called for the vote and the motion
carried.
The Board recessed at 11:25 to
reconvene for the 1:00 hearing.
Following the hearing while the
Board was still in session, Mr. Harris presented the ballots for the Crematory
Authority elections which contained the names of the following
individuals: Jason L. Benton, Cecil M.
Burton, Joseph Andrew Thompson, James D. Weatherspoon, Philip Douglas Young.
Discussion ensued.
Mr. White made the motion to accept the ballot and set the deadline for
submitting the ballots on November 3rd. Canvassing of the ballots will occur on
November 12th. Mr. Andrews
seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Harris offered some corrective information regarding the
new A. L. Jinwright Funeral Home. The
establishment is located in Pineville and not
Mark
Blake, President
J.T.
Willoughby III, Secretary