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; George Parrott, Jerry W.
Hawks, Jeanette Sherrod, Windell Daniels and Harvey Leavitt.
Also Present: Paul
Harris, Executive Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Bill Joyner,
Patricia Hayes, Don Brown and Lyn Cochrane.
President Alex Lee called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.
Mr. Lee gave the invocation.
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 stated the minutes for the July 14, 2004 meeting
had been previously mailed. Ms. Sherrod made the motion to accept the minutes
as presented and Mr. Hawks seconded. The
motion carried.
Disciplinary: Mr. Parrott
presented the Disciplinary Committee report.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Hawks made
the motion to accept the report as submitted.
Mr. Leavitt seconded and the motion carried.
Preneed: Mr. Leavitt
presented the Preneed Report. Discussion
ensued. Mr. Hawks made the motion to
accept the Preneed Report as submitted.
Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion carried.
At this time Mr. Daniels came into the meeting.
Continuing Education: Mr. Hawks deferred the meeting to Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris stated the CE Committee had met
earlier in the morning. A program had
been submitted for approval for embalmers and funeral service licensees only. Current Board policy states programs are open
to all persons licensed in a category.
The Committee was recommending that the policy wording be modified to
allow the staff to make determinations if clinical embalming is offered, they
be allowed to make the decision to restrict the program to that category. Mr. Hawks made the motion and Mr. Leavitt
seconded. The motion carried.
Finance: Mr. Daniels
presented the finance report for July and August 2004. The interest rate has been increased from
2.85% in July to 3.10% in August to 3.35% in September. Discussion ensued. Mr. Daniels e-mailed to the Board members a
draft copy of an Employment Agreement for their information and feedback. Mr. Hawks made the motion to accept the
report and Mr. Boles seconded. The motion
carried.
Attorney’s Report: Mr. Dirksen
reported that the status of cases pending was provided to the Board for their
review and responded to questions. Mr.
Parrott made the motion to accept the report.
Mr. Hawks seconded and the motion carried.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Harris and Mr. Lee met with Ms. Bobbi
Furr with Boyce, Furr & Company to discuss the 2003 audit on August
30. Mr. Hawks made the motion to accept
the audit report as submitted. Mr.
Leavitt seconded. Discussion
ensued. Mr. Lee called for the vote and
the motion carried. Mr. Harris discussed
the effects of HB859 with election procedures.
It nullifies the election for 2005 and repeals the election
procedures. At a future meeting the
Crematory Authority procedures will be updated.
There has been no response to the Property Tax matter. Mr. Harris commented on the recent Pathology
Exam and the comments that had been received regarding this. Dr. John Chew developed this exam for the
Board from the American Board of Funeral Service Education Pathology outline, Taber’s
Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary 19th ed., A. L. Smith’s Microbiology
& Pathology 11th ed. Textbook.
All answers are referenced to these documents with the Board’s answer
sheet.
The Board recessed at 10:15 a.m. and reconvened at 10:30
a.m.
General discussion continued with regards to the pathology
exam fee and the costs involved to administer this exam. At this time there are 130 trainees and only
five of those appear to be having problems with their reports. The trainee video was updated and the Monthly
Trainee Report was included with areas highlighted so trainees can verify
proper completion of this report. John
Kennedy has applied for an unaffiliated license. The new law books can be ready by January 2005
if they are given to printer by November 2004.
The Crematory Authority met September 2.
Form 56d was discussed but there was no action needed or taken. The Board Staff Retreat is set for September
24th in the Board’s office.
The staff is working on development of a Trainee Supervisor training
program. Mr. Harris reported that the
State of North Carolina had taken funds from the Recovery Fund of the Alarm
Systems Licensing Board and North Carolina Cemetery Commission to assist with
balancing the budget. This was of
concern to the Board because of the Preneed Recovery Fund. Mr. Harris recommended changing the November
2 and 3 meeting date to November 9 and 10.
Mr. Hawks made the motion and Mr. Daniels seconded. The motion carried.
New Business: Mr. Harris had found out that the application that is required for the Health Reimbursement Plan for the staff, which reimburses the major medical deductible only, would cost $375. The application has been ordered but has not been received. This matter was deferred until the next meeting.
The Crematory Authority would like the Board to adopt the Resolution issued for Frank G. (Jerry) Hardister and Louis R. Bennett, former Crematory Authority members. Mr. Leavitt made the motion and Mr. Daniels seconded. The motion carried.
Old Business: Final agency approval is needed for 21 NCAC 34B and 21 NCAC 34D. All adjustments have be made as approved at prior meetings. There were three (3) written objections from insurance companies regarding the preneed forms and these objections are so noted.
Mr. Harris suggested the Board discuss the deferral of the effective date of the above rules until January 2005 even though the rules become effective November 2004. Discussion ensued. No action was taken on this matter.
Mr. Harris presented and discussed the information items.
Mr. Lee opened the floor to receive public comment and
there was none. The Board adjourned at
12:25 p.m.
P.
Alex Lee, President
James
L. Boles, Jr., Secretary