REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
September 9, 2009
The North
Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting at
9:00 a.m. on September 9, 2009 at the Board’s office,
Present: Larry
Andrews, President; J. T. Willoughby III, Vice President;
Also
Present: Paul Harris, Executive
Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Fred Jordan with the N. C. Eye
Bank, Herb Reichlin with the Funeral Consumers Alliance, Pat Hayes with North
Carolina Funeral Directors Association, Dan Funchess, funeral director, Henry
Davis with Evergreen Corporation, Joanne Marotta with Cremation Society of the
Carolinas and Meredyth Partridge with Regulatory Support Services, Larry West
and Litz Adams with Johnson Funeral Home in Elkin,
Mr. Andrews
called the meeting to order at 9:15 a.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Ms. Wiseman had the invocation.
Mr. Andrews
read the Ethics Awareness & Conflict of Interest statement and no one
recused themselves at that time.
Mr. Andrews
asked the guests to identify themselves and make any comments. Mr. Adams made comments regarding the former
Hodges Funeral Home now Elkin Funeral Service and his concerns.
Mr. Parrott
presented the August minutes for approval.
Mr. Blake made the motion to approval the minutes. Mr. McCree seconded and the motion carried.
Exam Committee:
Mr. Parrott stated six applicants took laws and rules, all first
time. Five passed and one failed. This report was presented for information
only.
Finance/Personnel:
Mr. Briggs presented the financials and yielded to Mr. Harris for
further discussion. Mr. Briggs made the
motion to accept them and Mr. Parrott seconded.
The motion carried.
Laws, Rules
& Legislation: Mr. Briggs stated House Bill 1166 is now law
(SL2009-566). This enacted legislation
contains the provisions that allow insurance companies to release certain
policy information. Those provisions are
effective October 1, 2010. Thomson West
the law book publishers has copies of the rules drafts and H1166 to incorporate
in their proof. Mr. Briggs stated the
Committee had met by teleconference and made the motion to adopt the proposed
draft of the crematory form BFS-56G. Ms.
Wiseman seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Blake stated this form was developed because of suggestions made to
the Board by licensees of this State.
Preneed Committee:
Mr. Andrews presented the report for information only.
Disciplinary
Committee: Mr. Lea presented the report. Questions ensued. Mr. Parrott made the motion to accept the
recommendations and Mr. Willoughby seconded.
The motion carried.
Traineeship
Committee: Mr. Blake stated the committee met prior to
the Board meeting with a trainee for explanation on late reports. He has been informed that his traineeship
will end if future reports are turned in late.
Mr. Blake yielded the floor to Mr. Harris to discuss the Committee’s
recommendation regarding suspension of trainees for late or unfiled
reports. Current policy states for a
second late report or if a report remains unfiled the trainee is suspended
automatically until they can meet with the Committee. The Committee is recommending revision to
that policy to suspend the trainee for a period of thirty days and until they
meet with the traineeship committee. Discussion
ensued. Mr. Blake made the motion to
accept this revision. Mr. Lea seconded
and the motion carried.
Other Committee
Reports: There were none.
Attorney Report: Mr. Dirksen
presented his report. Mr. Dirksen had
several matters to discuss. The first is
recommendation for modification of the continuance policy for newly continued
cases to allow two months or the next available hearing date. Mr. Willoughby made the motion to accept this
recommendation. Mr. Parrott seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Andrews called for the vote and the
motion carried. The next matter concerns
five cases for hearing. The first case
concerns an out of state licensee that has not practiced while unlicensed for a
bad check but has overnighted the replacement check and late fees to the Board. Staff was requesting a dismissal of the
case. This will be discussed later in
the meeting if it is not received during the meeting. The next two matters are cases that have
requested a continuance and have met the required guidelines. Mr. Briggs made the motion to grant the
continuance. Mr. Parrott seconded and
the motion carried. There is one hearing
scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and one for 1:00 p.m. today. The last matter is in regards to Howell
Funeral Home,
Executive Director’s Report: Since the
August 12 Board Meeting 27 reports have been filed. New Funeral Homes—Roberts Funeral Service,
New funeral service licensees: Joseph Trippodo III, Adam B. Williamson.
New trainees: Dana Griffin,
Felicia Reid.
Mr. Harris presented his ethics report and stated he had telephone
inquiries with staff of NCFDA. He made
follow-up contact with the State Auditor and is waiting for a response. Mr. Harris will incorporate provisions of
HB1166 into future CE classes. Mr.
Andrews received a letter from Brooks & White Funeral Home regarding their
trainee, Merle Terry, commending him on his handling of a funeral in Roxboro for
a serviceman killed in action and Mr. Andrews wanted to share it with Board
members.
As the Board requested at the August meeting, Mr. Harris stated his
research regarding the travel to
Mr. Harris stated he will schedule two preneed reviews—one at the end of
October and one after the December Board meeting—and one FTC/Cremation review.
Mr. Harris stated that he and Mr. Dirksen were recommending a meeting
only day in October with no hearings.
Mr. Parrott made the motion to have a Board meeting only with no
scheduled hearings. Mr. Blake
seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Andrews called for the vote and the
motion carried. At this time Mr.
Lisenbee entered the meeting to respond to questions and report on his
inspection activities and then departed.
Mr. Andrews called for a ten-minute recess at 10:20.
New Business: Mr. Harris
introduced Meredyth Partridge who on behalf of Evergreen Corporation will be
speaking on the request for chapel clarification in order to allow them to sell
preneed. Mr. Briggs made the motion to
table the discussion until Mr. Dirksen has time to review and research the
information provided by Ms. Partridge.
Mr. Willoughby seconded. Mr. Lea,
Mr. McCree, Mr. Willoughby, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Parrott, Mr. Briggs, Ms. Wiseman
and Ms. Webber voted yes. Mr. Blake
voted no and the motion carried.
Old Business: There was
none.
Informational Items: There was
none. Mr. Dirksen stated the overnight
package from the licensee had been received.
Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the dismissal. Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion
carried. Mr. Dirksen stated the second
11:00 case had faxed a copy of the money order for the license fee and late fee
for the renewal fee. Mr. Willoughby made
a motion to continue the case until staff receives the fee. Mr. Parrott seconded. Mr. Lea, Mr. McCree, Mr. Willoughby, Mr.
Andrews, Mr. Parrott, Mr. Briggs, Ms. Wiseman and Ms. Webber voted yes. Mr. Blake voted no and the motion carried.
Public Comment: Mr. Adams
made additional comments regarding the Elkin Funeral Service. Mr. Andrews asked Mr. Adams to put his
concerns in writing to the Board.
The Board recessed for lunch until the 1:00 hearing.
Larry
Andrews, President