REGULAR BOARD MEETING

MINUTES

January 9, 2002

The North Carolina Board of Mortuary Science met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting on January 9, 2002, at 9:00 a.m. in the Board’s office located at 2321 Crabtree Boulevard, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Present: Paul Harris, President; Harvey Leavitt, Vice President; Alex Lee, Secretary; Stuart Cozort, Darryl Hart, Jack Briggs, Bill Groce, Nancy Rorie and Windell Daniels.

Also Present: Mark E. Henderson, Executive Director; Barry Bloch, General Counsel.

Others Present: Patricia Hayes; Dan Shackleford

Darryl Hart gave the invocation.

President Paul Harris called the meeting to order and read the Board of Ethics statement, Governor Easley’s Executive Order #1. No one expressed any conflict of interest at this time.

Mr. Henderson swore in Harvey Leavitt, Jack Briggs and Windell Daniels. Mr. Henderson read the letter from the Board of Ethics stating they found no conflict of interest regarding Mr. Daniels. Mr. Harris and Mr. Henderson then congratulated and welcomed these Board members.

Mr. Hart submitted the minutes for approval. Ms. Rorie made the motion to accept the minutes and Mr. Cozort seconded. The motion carried.

Mr. Bloch then stated Hearings under items 3 and 4 had been continued to a later date.

Mr. Harris presented his goals for the year which included: the continuation of fine tuning the Continuing Education programs; offering three clinics in different geographical locations; completion of the preneed manual; the continuation of building relations with the trade associations; and the continuation of the Continuing Education and Traineeship standards. Two members have been assigned to the Disciplinary Committee instead of three. Mr. Harris then asked for comments. Discussion ensued.

Mr. Harris then called for Committee Reports.

Finance: Mr. Cozort presented the Financials for November 2001 calling attention to the Comparative Statement. Mr. Cozort stated he was available for any questions. Mr. Hart made the motion to accept the report and Mr. Leavitt seconded. Motion carried.

Disciplinary: Mr. Lee stated the Disciplinary Committee had met the previous day and were recommending dismissal of all but V00-022/025. They were recommending a Consent Order be offered to funeral home and licensee imposing a $500 penalty and probation. After review of the report, Ms. Rorie made the motion to accept the recommendations. Mr. Hart seconded and the motion carried.

Preneed: Mr. Briggs reported the Preneed Committee had met prior to the meeting and yielded the floor to Mr. Henderson to address their issues. There are problems with several areas in the wording of the trust-funded contract. The insurance-funded contracts that have been approved for two companies have different wording on the backside of the contract and licensees are having problems with this. The Committee hoped to have new contracts implemented by January 2003. Discussion ensued. Mr. Lee made the motion that Mr. Henderson go forward with the proposed revisions to the preneed forms for review by the Board. Mr. Leavitt seconded and the motion carried.

Mr. Henderson also gave a synopsis of some funeral homes that had from the years 1992–1995 charged an administrative fee as a cash advance item on insurance funded preneed contracts. After they had been informed it was not proper to charge this fee, they had stopped. An audit report had been filed reporting this charge and the Committee was recommending no action but to forward their findings to the Insurance Commissioner. Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the findings and Mr. Lee seconded. Motion carried.

Mr. Lee had questions regarding the Examiners Reports. After some discussion, Mr. Henderson said he would see what could be done to get more current information ready for future Board meetings.

Continuing Education: Mr. Hart stated the goals for the Continuing Education Committee for the year, which include reviewing issues related to tracking of classes by the Board’s computer system and home study and Internet classes. Mr. Hart reported to the Board that several licensees had good comments about the CE classes given by Mr. Henderson. The next CE meeting will be February 13.

Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Henderson presented the completed 2002 Committee Assignments and new Board and Staff mailing and telephone lists.

Mr. Henderson reported that the next Crematory Authority meeting will be at 9 a.m. on January 28^th in the Board’s offices and Mr. Cozort and Mr. Briggs were on that Committee.

Mr. Henderson reported the Preneed Manual is 20% complete and he will have a draft to the Preneed Committee at or before the March Board meeting.

Mr. Henderson reported that he attended a very good privately sponsored CE in Bostic and spoke at a FD & MA of NC, Inc. district meeting in Charlotte.

Attorney’s Report: Mr. Bloch reported the staff would be checking a Tax Debtor listing published by the Department of Revenue and contacting licensees with outstanding tax debts to determine what action, if any, the Board should consider respecting their licenses.

Unfinished Business: There was no unfinished business.

New Business: Mr. Henderson presented the 2002 Board calendar. After discussion, Mr. Leavitt made the motion to approve the calendar. Ms. Rorie seconded and the motion carried.

Mr. Lee stated he would like to see the names of the candidates taking the exam reflected in the minutes. Discussion ensued. Mr. Harris stated he would like for the reports to be a part of the minutes.

Mr. Lee stated he had received a letter from a former Board member and then several e-mail responses that he would like to discuss. Mr. Leavitt made the motion to go into closed session to discuss the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness or conditions of initial employment of an employee or prospective employee, or to hear or investigate a complaint or grievance by or against an employee. Mr. Groce seconded and the motion carried.

Upon proper motion, the Board returned to open session at 12:03 pm.

Mr. Groce made the motion to approve the salary requests set out in a letter from Mr. Henderson to the Personnel Committee dated November 8, 2001. Ms. Rorie seconded the motion. Mr. Harris called for the vote. Mr. Leavitt, Mr. Cozort, Mr. Daniels, Mr. Groce, Mr. Hart and Ms. Rorie voted yes. Mr. Lee voted no. Mr. Harris and Mr. Briggs abstained from the vote. The motion carried.

Informational Items: Mr. Henderson presented several items for later review.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 12:07 pm.

Paul Harris, President

Alex Lee, Secretary