REGULAR BOARD MEETING

 

MINUTES

 

June 30, 2005

 

 

 

The North Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting on June 30, 2005, at the Board’s office located at 1033 Wade Avenue, Raleigh, North Carolina.

 

Present:  Jack Briggs, President; Rudy Lea, Vice President; Jody Tyson, Secretary; Larry Andrews, Mark Blake, Windell Daniels, William Manson, and George Parrott.

 

Also Present:  Paul Harris, Executive Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Fred Jordan with NC Eye Bank, Patricia Hayes, and Lyn Cochrane.

 

President Jack Briggs called the meeting to order at 9:03 a.m. 

 

Mr. Briggs gave the invocation.

 

Mr. Briggs read Governor Easley’s Executive Order #1.  No one recused themselves at this time.

 

At this time the floor was opened to public comment.  Mr. Harris stated Mr. White sent his regrets and hoped to be in attendance at the next Board meeting.

 

Mr. Tyson stated the minutes for the meetings had been previously mailed to the members.  Mr. Andrews stated there was one correction to the May 10th minutes.  The date for the minutes should be corrected from June to April.  Mr. Lea made the motion to approve the minutes as amended.  Mr. Manson seconded and the motion carried.

 

CE Committee:  Mr. Tyson stated the CE committee had met June 22nd and were offering new guidelines for submitting continuing education programs and new forms.   Discussion ensued.  Mr. Manson made the motion to accept the guidelines and forms and that programs sponsors begin mailing sign-up sheets to the Board.  Staff is developing a pocket card for use by individuals attending CE courses to regain a lapsed or inactive licnese.  Mr. Andrews seconded and the motion carried.

 

Clinics:  Mr. Manson stated the committee had not met officially to discuss finalizing the December program.

 

Disciplinary Committee:  Mr. Parrott stated the disciplinary cases had been previously mailed.  Mr. Dirksen stated there was one addendum on Page 8.  Discussion ensued.  Mr. Lea made the motion to approve the report.  Mr. Daniels seconded and the motion carried.

 

Mr. Parrott commended Mr. Dirksen and Mr. Harris on the handling of the disciplinary cases and all the work necessary to bring them before the Board.

 

Mr. Parrott made a motion that licensees under disciplinary action because of preneed problems be required to take a preneed competency test in addition to attending a preneed continuing education class.  Mr. Lea seconded the motion.  Discussion ensued.  Mr. Briggs called for the vote and the motion carried.

 

Finance Committee:  Mr. Daniels presented the May 2005 financials and then deferred the meeting to Mr. Harris.  Mr. Harris stated that the audit had been completed and the figures on the report reflected the audit changes.  Discussion ensued.  Mr. Daniels made the motion to accept the report and Mr. Tyson seconded.  The motion carried.

 

Laws, Rules & Legislative Committee:  Mr. Harris stated that HB967 is in Senate Judicial II Committee and has not yet been calendared and concerns over the wording regarding occupational licensing Boards in the Senate budget bill had been addressed.

 

Preneed Report:  Mr. Andrews presented the Preneed Report, which included a sample of the new preneed confirmation.  Discussion ensued with Mr. Tyson suggesting the addition of “telephone” with the numbers for clarity.  Mr. Daniels made the motion to purchase a folding machine for the new preneed confirmation.  Mr. Parrot seconded and the motion carried.  Mr. Parrott made the motion to approve the new forms and Mr. Andrews seconded.  Discussion ensued.  Mr. Briggs called for the vote and the motion carried.

 

Examination Committee:  Mr. Blake stated there were 108 questions for the exam and he would defer his report until the end of the meeting in closed session.

 

A ten-minute recess was taken at 10:45 a.m.

 

Attorney’s Report:  Mr. Dirksen reported that the status of cases pending was provided to the Board for their review.  Discussion ensued.  Mr. Dirksen stated Mr. Spicer had requested a continuance.  Mr. Daniels made the motion to deny the continuance but since Mr. White was not present, deliberation will begin at the next Board meeting.  Mr. Blake seconded and the motion carried.

 

Executive Director’s Report:  Mr. Harris stated Ms. Mills was recuperating after her knee surgery and was hoping to be back to work the week of July 11th.

 

Mr. Harris submitted the Inspection report.  There have been 211 inspections with reports filed as of June 29, 2005.  64 since the April 28th meeting.  One new establishment had opened and one crematory moved to a new location.  Six crematories were inspected since the April meeting with no violations cited.  Seven establishments were found with varying degrees of FTC/pricing issues, two were not using or using improper ID tags and two were found with statements of goods and services not signed by a licensee.

 

Mr. Harris demonstrated the new inspectors computer access program and responded to questions.

 

Mr. Harris requested cancellation of the State ITS service and approval for Time Warner Road Runner service.  Cost comparison was discussed.  Mr. Daniels made the motion to approve the contract for one year and Mr. Lea seconded.  The motion carried.

 

Mr. Harris discussed ramifications regarding outside discussion of closed session discussions.  Protection of Attorney-Client privileged and privacy issues surrounding staff were mentioned as concerns.

 

Updated mutual burial associations forms, which showed the new Board name and address, were submitted for Board approval.  Mr. Daniels made the motion to accept the forms and Mr. Manson seconded.  Motion carried.

 

Mr. Harris noted that the new building sign had been constructed and that the condo association would meet in August.  Mr. Harris and Mr. Briggs are meeting with the auditor at 2:00 for finalization of the 2004 audit.

 

Mr. Harris updated the Board on the construction project behind the building and discussed the liability insurance for Board members.

 

There will be a Preneed review at the Board’s office on July 29.

 

Mr. Daniels commended Mr. Harris and the staff on the development of the new inspector’s computer access system.

 

New Business:  The crematory rule has been approved and the Petition for Nomination of Candidate for North Carolina Crematory Authority was submitted for approval.  Mr. Parrott made the motion to approve the Petition.  Mr. Andrews seconded and the motion carried.

 

The next Board meeting will be August 10 at which time the election dates will be set.  If there are hearings, they will be conducted on August 9.  Mr. Tyson suggested a future Board meeting be conducted at Fayetteville Tech in their conference room.  Mr. Harris will check into this and report his findings at the August 10th meeting.  The next exam is July 18.  The laws, rules and pathology will be administered in the Board’s office and the Conference exam will be admininistered off-site.

 

Old Business:  There was none.

 

At this time the Board recessed for lunch.

 

Mr. Briggs reopened the meeting at 12:30.

 

Mr. Harris asked to amend his report on establishments to reflect the closing of one establishment since the April 28, 2005 Board meeting.

 

Mr. Blake made the motion to go into executive session to discuss approval of future examinations.    Mr. Tyson seconded and the motion carried.

 

Upon proper motion, the Board returned to open session.

 

Mr. Tyson made the motion to accept the Examination questions as presented and Mr. Daniels seconded.  The motion carried.

 

Information items were presented for review.

 

Mr. Briggs opened the floor for public comment.  There was none.

 

The meeting adjourned at 12:50 p.m.

 

 

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                    Jack D. Briggs, President

 

 

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                    Jody C. Tyson, Secretary