REGULAR BOARD
MEETING
MINUTES
January 14, 2009
The North Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly
scheduled Board Meeting at 9:00 a.m. on January 14, 2009 at the Board’s office,
Present: Larry Andrews, President; J. T. Willoughby III,
Vice President; George Parrott, Secretary; Rudy Lea, Frank McCree, Tryphina
Wiseman and Mark Blake.
Also Present: Paul
Harris, Executive Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Fred Jordan
with the N. C. Eye Bank, Dorman Caudle with Carolina Donor Services, Herb
Reichlin and Elizabeth Webber with the Funeral Consumers Alliance, Pat Hayes
with North Carolina Funeral Directors Association, Judge Michael Morgan,
Funeral Licensee Cecil Burton, and Lyn Cochrane.
Mr. Andrews called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. and led
the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Willoughby
had the invocation.
Mr. Andrews read the Ethics Awareness & Conflict of
Interest Reminder and no member recused themselves at this time.
Mr. Andrews asked for public comment. Mr. Reichlin stated Ms. Betty Stoddard
extends her regards since she was unable to attend. The visitors in attendance identified
themselves.
Mr. Andrews recognized Ms. Wiseman and called on Judge
Morgan to administer the Oaths of Office for new Board Member Ms. Wiseman; Mr.
Lea and Mr. Parrott as re-appointed Board Members; and Cecil Burton for the
Crematory Authority. Before
administering the Oaths Judge Morgan addressed the Board and thanked them for
the opportunity. Mr. Andrews presented
Judge Morgan with an appreciation gift and he departed.
Mr. Andrews presented former President Blake with a gift and
thanked him for his service as Board president in 2008.
Mr. Andrews recognized Mr. Parrott for the presentation of
the December minutes. Mr. Parrott stated
one correction had been made since the minutes were mailed to the Board members
and was noted in their copy. Mr.
Willoughby made the motion to accept the minutes and Mr. Lea seconded. The motion carried.
Finance/Personnel:
In the absence of Mr. Briggs, Mr. Harris presented and reviewed the
report. Mr. Harris discussed the bank
services. Questions ensued. Mr. Blake made the motion to approve the
financials and Mr. Parrott seconded. The
motion carried.
Mr. Blake had questions regarding the recovery fund and the
Howell charges. Mr. Harris indicated the
Financials reflected some information but not all claims had been processed and
checks cleared.
Laws, Rules & Legislation: Mr. Harris presented technical changes of the
proposed rules. Discussion ensued. Mr. Willoughby made the motion to accept the
changes. Mr. Blake seconded and the
motion carried.
Preneed Committee:
Mr. Andrews stated the Committee had met by teleconference on Tuesday,
and was recommending the following:
Three requests to transfer irrevocable preneed trust contracts out of
state have meet the requirements; interest rate of 2% on recovery fund claims
approved and paid in 2009—for claims filed and approved from the former Howell
Funeral Home in Gastonia, an interest rate of 2.5% until March 1, 2009 and
claims filed and approved after that date for Howell will be paid at 2%. Mr. Parrott made the motion to approve the
report and recommendations and Mr. Lea seconded. The motion carried. Discussion ensued regarding the requirements
for preneed establishment to request discontinuance of the preneed bond. Mr. Andrews stated 413 preneed funeral
establishments out of 675 have renewed for 2009.
Disciplinary Committee: Mr. Lea stated the committee was recommending
the modification of the existing hearing continuance policy and yielded the
floor to Mr. Harris. Recommendation would be to require respondents attorney’s
to submit a schedule of their court dates when requesting a continuance and
when a first request for continuance is granted the matter would be continued
for no more than two Board meetings.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Willoughby
made the motion to accept the recommendation of the committee. Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Lea presented the report. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake made the motion to accept the
report and the addenda with the change of V08-072 to include a strong letter of
caution to the trainee supervisor. Mr.
Willoughby seconded and the motion carried.
Exam Committee:
Mr. Parrott reported the December testing results—Four people took the
laws and rules exam for the first time--three passed and one failed. Staff has completed the documents for Castle
to create the laws and rules computer based exam.
Traineeship Committee:
Mr. Blake presented the report.
Staff was suggesting review of monthly report documents in order to
suggest changes (check list and case report).
Staff is close to finishing the traineeship certification program and
will forward the proposed program to the committee for review and
recommendation at the February meeting.
Attorney Report: Mr. Dirksen presented his
report. Hearings are scheduled for 11
a.m. and 1 p.m. today. The 1:30 p.m. has
requested a continuance and has met the guidelines. Consent Order has resolved the 9:00 a.m.
hearing for Thursday morning. Currently
the 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Thursday matters are scheduled. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried. Mr. Blake made the motion to approve the
continuance for the 1:30 hearing. Mr.
Willoughby seconded and the motion carried.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Harris thanked Mr. Blake for
hosting the President’s Christmas Dinner and for the gifts.
Mr. Harris submitted the
Inspectors Monthly Status Reports for December.
Since the December 10, 2008 Board
Meeting fifteen reports have been filed.
Establishment Changes: Change of
Ownership—Shuler Funeral Home, Hendersonville
Renewals as of December 8:
Establishments 548
Funeral Service 1,364 (out of 1,661 active)
Funeral Director 729 (out of 881 active)
Embalmer 9 (out of 12 active)
EM & FD 17 (out of 21 active)
Inactive 133 (out of 198)
Crematory 68 of 88
Mr. Harris stated there were 72
pending preneed applications in addition to the 413 that have already been
renewed.
New funeral service
licensees: Karen Howell-McPherson, Roy
Pruitt
New funeral director
licensees: David Lockridge, Hugh Norris,
Jr.
New trainees: Benjamin Bellante, Jimmie Smith, Barry
McCrimmon, Jennah Bushway, Kenneth Hammond, Gregory Ratchford, Jettig Byrant.
Mr. Harris stated he had
interaction with the Funeral Directors and Morticians Association of NC, Inc.,
NCFDA and FCAT. Mr. Harris has filed the
4th Quarter report with the Secretary of State and registered for
2009 as the Board’s Legislative Liaison.
He has requested an opinion from the State Ethics if the dinner gift
card he received and returned should be reported.
Mr. Harris stated renewal reminder
letters were mailed to licensees last year and staff was requesting discussion
about sending them this year. Mr.
Parrott made the motion to send the reminder letters. Mr. Lea seconded. Mr. McCree, Mr. Willoughby, Mr. Andrews, Mr.
Parrott, Mr. Lea and Ms. Wiseman voted yes.
Mr. Blake voted no and the motion carried.
The International Conference
District 3 has made a request for Reciprocity for their states (Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina. Discussion ensued. Mr. Willoughby made the motion to table the
Board’s response until after the ICFSEB Conference in February. Ms. Wiseman seconded and the motion carried.
Discussion ensued regarding 2009
Board meeting dates. Mr. Lea made the
motion to set February 18, 19, 2009 for the next meeting and for staff to
present calendar dates for conference dates for 2009 at that meeting. Mr. Willoughby seconded and the motion
carried.
Mr. Harris, Mr. Andrews and Mr.
Willoughby will attend the ICFSEB Annual Convention in Williamsburg, Virginia
in February.
Mr. Harris and Ms. Wiseman will
meet to discuss the Spring CE clinic.
New Business: Mr. Harris stated Halifax Mutual
Burial Association, Incorporated, Scotland Neck, and Whitley’s Mutual Funeral
Association, Incorporated, Kannapolis have presented their Order of Liquidation
for approval. Mr. Blake made the motion
to accept the Orders and Mr. Parrott seconded.
The motion carried.
Mr. Harris stated staff had
received a request from an examinee that was a “no show” for the exam that was
requesting a waiver or a reduced fee due to car problems for the
examination. Mr. Willoughby made the
motion to deny the request unless he produces some documentation from AAA
. Ms. Wiseman seconded and the motion
carried.
Mr. Andrews received a thank you
note from Jesse Ray and he felt it necessary to report. Mr. McCree, Mr. Blake and Mr. Willoughby also
reported they had received a thank you note
Old Business: There was none.
Informational Items: Mr. Harris stated the Statement
of Economic Interest requirements were included for review and noted the April
2009 deadline. The 2009 Committee
request sheet was enclosed showing the committees the Board members were
assigned. The State Ethics Commission
Evaluation of Statement of Economic Interest Filed by Ms. Wiseman was
included. The ICFSEB report for Winter
2008 was included.
Public Comment: There was none.
With no further business before
the Board, the meeting was initially adjourned at 11:10 a.m. for the scheduled
11:00 Hearing
Larry
Andrews, President
George
Parrott, Secretary