REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
April 14, 2010
The North
Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting at
9:00 a.m. on April 14, 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, Jack Briggs and Larry Andrews.
Also
Present: Paul Harris, Executive
Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Fred Jordan with the N. C. Eye
Bank, Pat Hayes with North Carolina Funeral Directors Association, Herb
Reichlin with the Funeral Consumers Alliance, Dan Funchess, Funeral Service
Licensee, Dorman Caudle with Carolina Donor Services and, and Board Inspector
Brett Lisenbee and Lyn Cochrane
Mr. Willoughby
called the meeting to order at 9:03 a.m., led the Pledge of Allegiance and had
the invocation.
Mr. Willoughby
read the Ethics Awareness & Conflict of Interest statement. Ms. Wiseman and Mr. Willoughby stated they
had attended the FD&MA of NC, Inc. Board of Directors meeting in
Mr. Willoughby
asked the guests to identify themselves.
There were no public comments.
Ms. Wiseman
presented the March minutes for approval.
Ms. Wiseman made the motion to approve the minutes and Mr. Parrott
seconded. The motion carried.
Clinics
Committee: Ms. Wiseman stated the October clinic would
be held at the
Exam Committee:
Mr. Willoughby reported staff had taken the laws and rules exam at a
Castle Worldwide test center. The
results were successfully downloaded. As
of April 8, Board staff registered ten applicants with Castle. Three have completed the scheduling process
but have not taken the exam yet. Ms.
Wiseman mentioned that her trainee had to reschedule an exam due to a problem
at the test center. Mr. Harris replied
he would investigate the matter and follow-up.
Mr. Willoughby presented this for information only. Mr. Andrews seconded and the motion
carried.
Mr. Funchess
entered the meeting.
Finance/Personnel:
Mr. Briggs stated the Committee had met by teleconference and, as
reported at the March meeting, discussed paying additional principal on the
mortgage and establishing a business continuity and contingency reserve
fund.
The Committee
makes a recommendation of paying $150,000 on the mortgage principal out of the
unrestricted reserves. Mr. Parrott made
the motion to accept the recommendation.
Ms. Webber seconded. Discussion
ensued. Mr. Willoughby called for the
vote and the motion carried.
The Committee
makes the recommendation of establishing a business continuity/contingency
reserve fund of $50,000 within the unrestricted reserves. Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the
recommendation and Mr. Lea seconded. The
motion carried.
Mr. Briggs
presented the report for review and made the motion to receive the report. Mr. Blake seconded and the motion carried.
Laws and Rules
Committee: Mr. Briggs yielded the floor to Mr. Harris
who stated that NC Vital Records is moving toward electronic death
registration. They are reviewing vendors
from which to purchase a computer software system. The NC Medical Board is proposing a change to
the statutes adding physician assistants operating under a supervisory
arrangement with the physician or nurse practitioners practicing under a
collaborative practice agreement with the physician to those who can sign death
certificates. The Medical Society has
given an informal approval to this. Ms.
Wiseman made the motion to give the NC Medical Board the Board’s endorsement to
this proposal. Mr. Parrott seconded and
the motion carried.
Mr. Blake asked
about the Board’s complaint to the medical board concerning the physician
charging for the signing of death certificates.
Mr. Harris replied the Board had acknowledged receipt of the complaint
but he has had no other correspondence regarding the complaint.
Mr. Harris
stated he had received a telephone call from a licensee regarding a death
certificate and problems he was having because he was twice given the wrong
doctor’s name.
Mr. Harris
stated proposed rules were published in the April 1 edition of the North
Carolina Register. The 60-day period to
receive written comments began on that date and will end June 1. Copies of the proposed rules were sent to the
Board’s interested parties list last Friday.
The Notice of Text filing for the rule making set a public hearing to
coincide with the Board meeting at 9 a.m. on May 19. August 1 will be the earliest date for the
rules to become permanent.
Mr. Andrews
made the motion to accept the Laws & Rules report. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried.
Preneed
Committee: Mr. Andrews presented the Activity
Report. Discussion ensued. Mr. Andrews
asked Mr. Harris if any additional 2009 Annual Reports had been received. Mr. Harris stated he would get that
information at a break. Mr. Andrews
made the motion to accept the report for information only. Mr. Briggs seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Andrews
stated the committee reviewed two requests to discontinue bond coverage. One was submitted prior to the Board’s
adoption of a policy for requests and included goodwill as an asset. The other lacked sufficient information to
determine solvency. The committee was
recommending denial of the requests. Mr.
Briggs made the motion to accept the recommendation. Ms. Webber seconded and the motion carried.
The committee
is considering a request from NCFDA to address several matters related to the
refund of excess non-guaranteed funds that may exist in inflation proof
contracts. Committee has discussed the
matter and requested staff to conduct further research. Questions ensued. Mr. Andrews made the motion for further research. Mr. Lea seconded. Mr. Willoughby, Mr. Parrott, Ms. Wiseman, Mr.
Lea, Mr. McCree, Ms. Webber, Mr. Briggs and Mr. Andrews voted yes. Mr. Blake voted no and the motion carried.
Disciplinary
Committee: Mr. Lea stated there was an addendum to the report
and the report would be presented and voted on first, then the addendum. Questions ensued. Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the
report excluding M09-022 and the addendum.
Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion carried. Approved were V10-007, V10-009, V09-069,
V10-001, M10-001, M10-004, and M10-005.
Discussion
ensued regarding M09-022. Mr. Briggs
made the motion to accept the recommendation for M09-022. Mr. Blake seconded and the motion carried.
Discussion
ensued regarding V09-011. Mr. Briggs
made the motion to defer action on V09-011 until staff can further research
other records. Mr. Andrews
seconded. Mr. Lea seconded. Mr. Willoughby, Mr. Parrott, Mr. Lea, Mr.
McCree, Ms. Webber, Mr. Briggs and Mr. Andrews voted yes. Ms. Wiseman and Mr. Blake voted no. The motion carried.
Mr. Lea
presented the addendum and discussion ensued.
Mr. Parrott made the motion to approve M09-014. Mr. McCree seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Russell
entered the meeting.
Traineeship:
The committee met this morning to discuss a trainee under suspension
notice that had not responded to the staff letter. The supervisor was copied on the letter
advising a reply within ten days following receipt of the letter. The committee was recommending immediate
termination of the trainee. Ms. Wiseman
made the motion to approve the recommendation.
Mr. Andrews seconded and the motion carried.
Continuing
Education Committee: Mr. Parrott stated a program sponsor appealed
a staff denial for a program on April 11-13.
Staff denied the application because it was not submitted at least 30
days prior to the program as required by 21 NCAC 34B .0411(b)(1).
Sponsor faxed the applications on March 17 and sent hard copies
overnight that were received March 18.
The sponsor also requested approval for the same program to be presented
April 25-27 and May 5-7, which staff approved.
The committee was recommending denial of the appeal request. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake made the motion to accept the
recommendation and Mr. Andrews seconded.
The motion carried.
Attorney Report: Mr. Dirksen
stated a licensee was present to request a continuance for his Thursday hearing
at 9:00 am and he was expecting another one later. Mr. Briggs recused himself and left the
Boardroom. Larry Russell requested a
first continuance in order to retain the services of an attorney. Mr. Blake made the motion to approve the
continuance. Mr. Parrott seconded and
the motion carried. Mr. Briggs reentered
the meeting.
Mr. Dirksen presented his report for information only. Questions ensued. Mr. Parrott and Mr. Blake commended Mr.
Dirksen.
Executive Director’s Report: Since the
January Board Meeting 31 inspection/audit reports have been filed.
Change of Ownership:
New Transport/Removal: Charles
Mercer, Clayton; Curtis Lee Green,
New Unaffiliated: Carl Barnekow
Funeral Service Licensee
New Funeral Service Licensee:
Benjamin Strickland, Jr.
New Funeral Director Licensee:
Sharon Worrell
New Trainees: Hallie Edwards, Dean
Vinson, Scott MacKenzie, Michael Hardin
Mr. Harris stated Inspector Cox had been subpoenaed to testify in a civil
matter between licensees as an expert witness to interpret the law. Mr. Harris directed Board legal council to
draft and file a motion to quash the subpoena.
Discussion ensued.
Questions ensued regarding Inspector Licensee’s Monthly Status Report.
Staff Ethics report: Mr. Harris
reported contact with NCFDA staff, an NCFDA District Director regarding a CE
program, FD&MA of NC, Inc. officers and lobbyist, referral of a Medical
Board attorney to the NCFDA and FD&MA of NC, Inc.
Governor Perdue has established Executive Order No. 34, Ethics and
Attendance Standards for Gubernatorial Appointees to Boards. At least 75% attendance is required for these
members. Mr. Harris will be reporting
attendance annually to the Governor’s Office for Boards and Commissions.
Executive Order No. 55, Enhanced Disclosures from Applicants to Board and
Commissions was issued April 5, 2010. This
will apply to new appointees to Boards and will affect all of the Governor’s
appointees to the Board of Funeral Service.
Mr. Willoughby requested a five-minute recess. At this time Mr. Russell departed and Mr.
Crawford entered the meeting.
The meeting was reconvened and Mr. Lisenbee made comments regarding his
inspections. Questions ensued. Mr. Blake commended Mr. Lisenbee for his work
and Ms. Wiseman commended him for his written reports.
Mr. Harris stated there were not 15 outstanding preneed annual
reports. Mr. Parrott made the motion to
accept Mr. Harris’ report. Ms. Webber
seconded and the motion carried.
At this time Bob Crawford, an attorney retained by Pressley Ely with
Evans Funeral Home, requested a first continuance for his client. Mr. Parrott made the motion to accept the
request. Ms. Wiseman seconded and the
motion carried. Mr. Crawford departed
the meeting.
New Business: Mr. Harris
stated a recommendation for the 2010 Mutual Burial Association assessments be
set at $100 per MBA and $.35 per member.
Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the motion. Ms. Webber seconded and the motion carried.
At this time Mr. Lisenbee departed the meeting.
Mr. Harris recommended the 2011 MBA assessments be considered and set as
part of the discussions for the 2011 budget that will occur later this
year. Discussion ensued.
Old Business: Staff had
no old business. Mr. Blake remarked on
the April 15 deadline by which Board members must file their statement of
economic interest forms. Mr. Harris
confirmed the deadline. Mr. Harris also
stated those members needing ethics and lobbying refresher training should make
arrangements to do that as soon as possible.
Discussion ensued regarding the training that Jack Nichols was scheduled
to provide at the February meeting that had to be rescheduled. Mr. Harris stated that Mr. Dirksen covered
the other areas of required member training at the February meeting with the
exception of one part.
Mr. Willoughby asked Dan Funchess to identify himself since he entered
the meeting after it had begun.
Informational Items: There were
none.
Public Comment: There was
none.
Mr. Willoughby recessed the meeting at 11:00 a.m.
J.
T. Willoughby III, President
Tryphina
Wiseman, Secretary