REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
The North Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly
scheduled Board Meeting on
Present: Alex Lee,
President; Jack Briggs, Vice President; Jamie Boles, Secretary; Windell
Daniels, George Parrott, Rudy Lea, Harvey Leavitt and Jerry W. Hawks.
Also Present: Paul
Harris, Executive Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Patricia
Hayes, Bill Joyner; Dan Shackleford, Lyn Cochrane.
President Alex Lee called the meeting to order at
Mr. Lee gave the invocation.
At this time Mr. Lee read the Board of Ethics statement,
Governor Easley’s Executive Order #1. No
one recused themselves at this time.
Mr. Lee opened the floor to receive public comment and
there was none.
Mr. Boles submitted the December 9th and 10th,
2003 minutes. Mr. Briggs made the motion
to accept them and Mr. Hawks seconded.
The motion carried.
Disciplinary: Mr. Lee presented
the Disciplinary Committee report. Mr.
Hawks recused himself from the vote.
At this time Mr. Daniels arrived.
Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the Disciplinary
Committee report. Mr. Lea seconded and
the motion carried. Mr. Hawks did not
vote.
Mr. Daniels made the motion to go into closed session to
consider the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness or
conditions of a former employee, or to hear or investigate a complaint or grievance
by or against an employee. Mr. Leavitt
seconded and the motion carried.
Upon proper motion, the Board returned to open session.
Mr. Daniels made the motion to pay the former Executive Director for his accumulated vacation leave and the two days worked in 2004 to be consistent with Board policy. Mr. Lea seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Lee called for the vote and the motion carried.
Finance/Personnel: Mr. Daniels
presented the revised 2004 budget and made the motion to accept the budget as revised
and the report. Mr. Parrott seconded and
the motion carried.
Preneed: Mr. Leavitt
yielded the floor to Mr. Lea. Mr. Lea
submitted the Preneed Report. Discussion
ensued. Mr. Hawks made the motion to
accept the report as presented. Mr.
Daniels seconded and the motion carried.
Attorney’s Report: Mr. Dirksen
reported that the status of cases pending was provided to the Board for their
review.
At this time President Lee welcomed Mr. Harris to the
position of Executive Director.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Harris gave an update on the fee increase
rule and the timeline for approval of this the increase. He stated no written comments had been
received. The rules for Board Functions
and Crematories were presented behind Tab 8 and were offered for the initial
review by the Board and could be voted on by the Board today.
Mr. Harris recommended having a February meeting.
The Wade Avenue property would be ready for occupancy by
the end of February. Bids would be
submitted for the telephone/data wiring and moving. The lease on the present facility had been
extended until March 31.
The Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science has requested
approval of their on-line funeral director program.
Questions regarding pathology should be added to the State
exam and approved by the appropriate committee.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Lee named
Mr. Leavitt, Chairman, with Mr. Hawks and Ms. Rorie, to develop pathology
testing questions for the Board’s exam and to present them at the next Board
meeting.
Letter to auditing firms for the Board’s 2004 audit will be
mailed out January 9.
Certificates of Performance are currently being sent to the State Records Center for storage and after the period of retention, the Records Center is destroying them. The Board is now being charged for storage boxes and the destroying of these records. Discussion ensued regarding the change of the retention policy. Mr. Lee referred this to Mr. Harris for his investigation of the statute and rule for archiving records.
Mr. Harris reported that 70% of the funeral directors had
renewed for 2004, with 68% of the inactive licensees, 69% of the establishments
and 80% of the crematories renewing.
Discussion ensued.
A motion was made by Mr. Boles not to pay interest on
Recovery Fee claims. Mr. Daniels
seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Lee called for the vote and all voted no
and the motion failed. Mr. Lee referred
the matter to the preneed committee for study.
Mr. Leavitt stated that Chapter 34 had the Board listed as
Board of Mortuary Science instead of Board of Funeral Service. Mr. Daniels made the motion to accept the
rules as presented with the name changed to North Carolina Board of Funeral
Service. Mr. Parrott seconded and the
motion carried.
Mr. Hawks made the motion to accept Subchapter 34C –
Crematories as presented. Mr. Leavitt
seconded and the motion carried.
The Clinics and Continuing Education Committees will meet
to discuss a spring clinic.
Informational Items: Mr. Harris
discussed scheduling a February meeting in conjunction with the North Carolina
Funeral Directors 2004 Educational Conference and Exposition. The Board will meet for a retreat at 4:00
p.m. after the NCFDA Conference on Tuesday, February 10th at the
Sheraton Imperial Hotel and hold their Board meeting the following Wednesday,
February 11th. Mr. Harris
will make the arrangements and inform the Board.
Mr. Lee again opened the floor to receive public comment
and there was none. Mr. Lee presented
Mr. Harris with a gift of appreciation for serving on the Board prior to his
resignation at the November 2003 meeting.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Alex
Lee, President
Jamie
Boles, Secretary