REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
December 8, 2010
The North
Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting at
9:00 a.m. on December 8, 2010 at the Board’s office,
Present: J. T.
Willoughby III, President; George Parrott, Vice President; Tryphina Wiseman,
Secretary; Rudy Lea, Frank McCree, Mark Blake, Elizabeth Webber, Larry Andrews
and Jack Briggs.
Also
Present: Paul Harris, Executive
Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Dorman Caudle with
Mr. Willoughby
called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m., led the Pledge of Allegiance and had
the invocation.
Mr. Willoughby
read the Ethics Awareness & Conflict of Interest statement. Mr. Briggs stated he had recused himself
because of a conflict of interest from a part of the Laws and Rules
Teleconference and possibly will during the Laws and Rules Report.
Mr. Willoughby
asked the guest to identify themselves and there was no public comment.
The November
minutes were presented for approval and questions ensued. Mr. Dirksen stated the case numbers listed
under the Disciplinary Committee next to last line should be corrected. Ms. Wiseman made the motion to adopt the
minutes with the corrections. Mr. Lea
seconded and the motion carried.
Exam Committee:
Mr. Willoughby reported 15 people had applied for laws and rules exam
since the October meeting. Eight have
taken the exam with seven passing and one failing. This report was for information only.
Finance and
Personnel Committee: Mr. Briggs presented the report and made the
motion to adopt the report. Mr. Blake seconded
and the motion carried. Mr. Briggs
stated the budget would be discussed later in the meeting after closed session.
Laws and Rules:
Mr. Briggs recused himself from discussion and voting on the matter of
the non-guaranteed funds for inflation proof contracts and deferred the report
to Mr. Harris. Mr. Lea and Mr. Blake
also recused themselves from discussion and voting of this matter. Mr. Harris stated the Committee met and Mr.
Briggs had also recused himself from that meeting. The recommendation regarding a look-back
period for audit purposes is as follows:
for contracts written since January 1, 2000 and performed by the
original contracting funeral home, during audits the Board will examine those
contracts back to January 1, 2006 (when the new sales tax computation on
funeral expense went into effect) or to the last audit date whichever is
later. Mr. Parrott made to motion to
accept the recommendation and Ms. Webber seconded. The motion carried. Mr. Blake, Mr. Briggs and Mr. Lea did not
participate in discussion or the vote.
Mr. Briggs then
returned to the report and stated the Committee was recommending the following
regarding the preneed bond. If a firm
has held a bond and that bond coverage is discontinued for reasons other than
provided by law, the firm would have 60 days from the date of termination to
secure another bond in accordance with GS 90-210.67(b) or the Board will
commence action to transfer existing contracts.
If an existing firm is sold, the new ownership shall have 60 days to
obtain the bond in accordance with GS 90-210.67(b). Alternatively, the Board will commence action
to transfer the existing contracts. Mr.
Briggs made the motion to accept the recommendation and Mr. Parrott
seconded. The motion carried.
Preneed Committee:
Mr. Andrews presented the report for information only.
Disciplinary
Committee: Mr. Lea deferred the report to Mr. Blake
since he was unable to attend the Committee meeting. Mr. Blake stated there was an addendum to be
considered separately. Questions
ensued. Mr. Parrott made the motion to
accept the recommendation for V10-019, V10-057, V10-059, V10-060, V10-064,
V10-071, V10-058, V10-063, M10-028, M10-029, M10-030. Ms. Wiseman seconded and the motion
carried. Questions ensued regarding the
addendum. Ms. Wiseman made the motion to
accept the recommendation for M0-010 and M10-027. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried.
Traineeship
Committee: Mr. Blake stated the Committee had met prior
to the Board meeting with two trainees on suspension. Trainee One did not respond within five days
to staff letter when a report was not filed.
Report was filed with the next months’ report. Committee was recommending to allow Trainee
One to resume traineeship January 1 but only get credit for one month and the
cases as reported. Trainee Two had two
late reports within the registered year and Committee was recommending allowing
Trainee Two to resume January 1.
Committee also discussed a trainee who was going on vacation the last
week of November and filed the November report on November 19 including work
after that date that was planned.
Committee was recommending a staff letter to trainee and supervisor,
disallowing the work that occurred after the filing date in November. Mr. Webber made the motion to accept the
recommendations. Mr. Andrews seconded
and the motion carried.
Attorney Report:
Mr. Dirksen presented his report.
The 11:00 hearing had requested a continuance and there was one hearing
at 1:00. Mr. Willoughby had granted a
continuance at his discretion for the Thursday hearing. Mr. Parrott made the motion to approve the
11:00 continuance. Mr. Lea seconded and
the motion carried. Thursday hearings
were also continued. Discussion
ensued. Mr. Parrott approved the
Attorney Report. Mr. Andrews seconded
and the motion carried.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Harris
apologized for the Board mailing that had not reached Board members promptly.
Forty inspection reports have been filed since the October Board meeting.
New Funeral Home: Smith-Holloway
Memorial Funeral Services, LLC, Goldsboro.
Closed Funeral Home: Sykes Funeral
Home, Scotland Neck
New Chapel: Wilder’s Chapel,
Scotland Neck (former Sykes location)
New Transport/Removal: Norbert
Tadych II, Charlotte; John Eddie Sigmon, Jr., Durham; Brian Palmieri, Durham;
Corey Matthews, Charlotte; Beatrice Fair, Charlotte; Dwain Hudson, Charlotte.
New FS Licensees: Forrest Rogers,
Marvin Marsh III, Margaret Lusk, Rosalyn Aycock, Henry Burmester, Jonathon
Greene, Candace Eddins, Robert Abaunza
New FD Licenses: Eula Jones, Lula
Thomas
New Unaffiliated Licensees: Joseph
B. Paul, Jr. Funeral Director Licensee, Washington; Samuel S. James Funeral
Service Licensee, Huntersville
New Trainees: Shiron Bigelow,
Stephanie Kuykendall, Grant Siegal, Gassie Locklear, Jr., Nelda Davis, Direce
McIntyre, Alison Robinette
Staff Ethics Report: Mr. Harris
stated the November 18 meeting with NCFDA, Funeral Consumers Alliance of
Triangle, Homesteaders representative was very productive. The FD&MA of NC, Inc. representative was
unable to attend but sent comments that were considered during the
meeting.
Representative Dale Folwell hosted a meeting with freshman members of
Legislature and invited Legislative Liaisons on December 7th. Mr. Harris attended.
The report on Internal Review of Rules has been filed with Office of
State Budget and Management by the November 22nd deadline.
The engineer retained for the interior office construction will submit
plans on Thursday and then schedule the meeting for the fast track approval
with the City of Raleigh.
The Preneed/FTC Review on November 30th was full for both
classes.
Mr. Harris will have a Crematory Law review in January 2011. He will also participate in a Crematory Law
panel discussion at the NCFDA convention in 2011. 2011 interest for recovery funds claims will
be discussed at the January 2011 meeting.
New Board member orientation will be presented in 2011. Also for discussion in January is an old MBA
that was dissolved years ago with funds in a bank that are being used by
interest fees. The Board is trustee of
those funds and there is no way to determine members since the funeral home is
also out of business. Staff will
determine if these funds can be escheated.
At this time discussion ensued regarding the Health Care Power of
Attorney document. Ms. Wiseman also had
questions regarding the inspector reports.
Ms. Wiseman made the motion to accept the Executive Director’s Report
for information only. Mr. Andrews
seconded and the motion carried.
New Business: Mr.
Willoughby called for nominations regarding the election of officers for
2011. Mr. Briggs nominated Mr. Parrott
for President. Mr. Blake seconded. Mr. Briggs made the motion to close the
nominations and elect Mr. Parrott by acclimation. Mr. Blake seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Andrews made the motion to nominate Ms. Wiseman for Vice
President. Mr. Parrott seconded. Mr. Briggs made the motion to close the
nominations and elect Ms. Wiseman by acclimation. Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Blake made the motion to nominate Ms. Webber for Secretary. Mr. Lea seconded. Mr. Briggs made the motion to close the
nominations and elect Ms. Webber by acclimation. Mr. Andrews seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Harris presented the Order of Liquidation for W. F. Kelsey Mutual
Burial Association in Albemarle. Mr.
Briggs made the motion to accept the Order.
Mr. Andrews seconded. The motion carried.
Mr. Willoughby called for a five-minute recess. Mr. Reichlin departed the meeting. At 10:25 Mr. Willoughby reconvened and
continued the Board’s New Business.
Mr. Blake discussed the death of a person that had occurred while they
were visiting in North Carolina and the handling of the death certificate.
At this time Mr. Brewington entered the meeting. Discussion ensued
regarding the out of state death, issuance of death certificate and medical
examiner.
Old Business: Mr. Harris
stated a former licensee with a consent order was requesting to return to work
at the funeral home. The consent order
stated that this person could not be involved with the funeral home without
Board permission. Discussion
ensued. Mr. Blake made the motion that
this person appear before the Board to make the request. Ms. Webber seconded and the motion carried.
At this time Mr. Willoughby stated the Board needed to go into closed
session to discuss staff performance in relation to the 2011 budget. Ms. Wiseman made the motion to go into closed
session to discuss and consider the qualifications, competence,
performance, character, fitness, conditions of appointment, or conditions of
initial employment of an individual public officer or employee or prospective
public officer or employee; or to hear or investigate a complaint, charge, or
grievance by or against an individual public officer or employee. Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Briggs made the motion to return to open session and Mr. Andrews
seconded. The motion carried. Mr. Briggs made the motion to adopt the 2011
budget. Mr. Lea seconded. Mr. Andrews thanked Mr. Harris, the Finance
Committee and staff for the work on the budget for next year. Mr. Willoughby called for the vote and the
motion carried.
Informational Items: Mr. Harris
stated the 2011 Holiday calendar was the only information item. At the January meeting he will have the
color-coded calendar with dates for future meetings.
Public Comment: There was
none. Mr. Willoughby thanked the Board for the
pleasure and opportunity to serve as the President for 2010.
Mr. Willoughby asked if there was any further
business. There was none and the meeting
was recessed until the 1:00 hearing.
George
S. Parrott, President
Elizabeth
S. Webber, Secretary