REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
September 21, 2005
The
North Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting
on September 21, 2005, at the Board’s office located at 1033 Wade Avenue,
Raleigh, North Carolina.
Present:
President
Upon
proper motion the Board returned to open session.
Mr.
Blake made the motion to adopt the Board’s proposed Findings of Fact with the
addition that a copy is sent to the District Attorney. Mr. Tyson seconded. Mr. Dirksen requested that an amendment be
made to the motion to allow further applications from the recovery fund be
paid. Mr. White made a motion to amend
the original motion to reflect the recovery fund reimbursements and Mr. Tyson
seconded. The motion carried. Mr. Briggs then called for the vote on the
original motion and it carried.
The
hearing concluded at 9:35 a.m.
After
a recess the Board reconvened at 10 a.m.
At this time
Mr.
Briggs stated Governor Easley’s Executive order #1 had been previously read but
read it again. No one recused themselves
at this time.
Mr.
Briggs requested a minute of silent meditation for the victims Hurricane
Katrina.
Mr.
Tyson stated the minutes for the meetings had been previously mailed to the
Board. Mr. Andrews made the motion to
approve the minutes and Mr. Lea seconded.
The motion carried.
CE
Committee: Mr. Tyson stated the CE committee had met
Tuesday afternoon, September 20. The
Committee had been given no pending CE programs. There were two technical changes that needed
to be made to the Rule—The required sign-up sheet that a CE provider must be
sent around every hour had become a hardship during some programs. Mr. Blake asked for clarification regarding
an instance when a preneed card was presented for entrance into a program. Mr. Harris stated either card would be
acceptable.
Clinics: Mr. Manson stated that the committee had met
yesterday. The December clinic will have
Disciplinary
Committee: Mr. Parrott stated the disciplinary cases had
been previously mailed. Mr. Dirksen
stated there was one addendum.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Daniels
made the motion to approve the report and Mr. Lea seconded. Discussion ensued regarding V04-029. Mr. Briggs called for the vote. Mr. Lea, Mr. Parrott, Mr. Manson, Mr.
Daniels, Mr. White and Mr. Briggs voted yes.
Mr. Tyson, Mr. Blake, and Mr. Andrews voted no and the motion carried.
Finance
Committee: Mr. Daniels presented the August
financials. A draft of the 2006 Budget
will be ready for Finance and Personnel and the Personnel Committee will do the
annual review of the Executive Director.
Mr. Daniels made the motion to accept the Finance Report. Mr. Tyson seconded and the motion carried. At this time Mr. Daniels deferred the meeting
to Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris discussed
moving Board funds to longer-term investments.
He suggested moving $50,000 to the Wachovia securities account and
$50,000 to the State Treasurer’s account.
If funds were needed later due to unforeseen circumstances, funds could
be moved from the State Treasurer account.
Mr. Daniels made the motion to move the funds as stated by Mr.
Harris. Mr. White seconded and the
motion carried.
Mr.
Daniels made the motion to go into closed session to consider the
qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness or conditions of
initial employment of an employee or prospective employee, or to hear or
investigate a compliant or grievance by or against an employee.
Mr.
Parrott made the motion to return to open session and Mr. Daniels
seconded. At 11:40 the Board returned to
open session.
Mr.
Daniels suggested a one-time payment of $100 to each inspector to help offset
the high cost of gasoline. Discussion
ensued. Mr. Andrews made the motion to
approve this payment. Mr. Tyson
seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs called for the vote and the motion
carried.
Preneed
Report: Mr. Andrews presented the Preneed Report.
Laws,
Rules & Legislation: Mr. White stated the Governor had signed HB
967 approving the healthcare power of attorney.
Discussion ensued on other legislative matters including amending the
current statutory language to reflect human remains.
Mr.
White deferred the discussion regarding appointments to Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris stated Mr. Parrott and Mr. Daniels
were reappointed, for three-year terms, respectively, beginning January 1,
2006.
Mr.
Blake and Mr. White discussed the use of the “yellow” copy of death
certificates. Mr. Harris stated the
State Vital Statistics will review the death certificates in 2006 or 2007 and
comments could be made at that time.
Examination
Committee: Five incorrect answers were entered on the
new laws and rules grade key and all exams had been re-graded. Fifteen scores were affected by the
re-grading and the three additional applicants with passing scores had been
notified and licensed.
There
is no cost to the Board to make the transition from paper/pencil to computer
based testing for the Conference Exam.
The in-state and out-of-state application fees would remain the same and
consideration may be given for a reduction in this fee for retakes.
The
Committee was recommending that two staff members and the Exam Committee review
all grading keys prior to use and the purchase of a Scantron grading
machine. Mr. White made the motion and
Mr. Daniels seconded. The motion
carried.
Mr.
Tyson requested that the names of new trainees be provided to the Board members
and Mr. Blake requested the names of new licensees be provided to the Board
members.
Attorney’s
Report: Mr. Dirksen reported that the status of cases
pending was provided to the Board for their review. Mr. Dirksen stated that with regards to the
Gilmore matter, the Motion to Dismiss had been calendared. He reported on a notice he’d received the
State Bar regarding his interaction with licensees that may be represented by
counsel.
The
Board recessed at 12:20 for lunch and the meeting reconvened at 12:55
Executive
Director’s Report: Mr. Harris stated there had been 300
inspections with reports filed as of September 20, 2005. Forty-four inspections had been completed
since the August 10, 2005, meeting.
Three new establishments have opened; one new opened in a former funeral
home facility; two establishments closed; one transferred to a new location;
one new unaffiliated during business transition from a former facility to a new
one. One crematory opened. Twelve establishments had been cited for
various reasons—FTC/pricing issues, improper ID.
The
Inspectors’ Monthly Activity Reports were submitted for review.
The
online inspector access was now active and one inspector was already submitting
her reports in this manner.
The
condo association had met August 23 and discussion had included the parking
deck installation and the retaining wall demolition for early 2006.
Form
5500 the Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan was mailed to IRS
September 12. The IRS has temporarily
increased the mileage reimbursement from 40.5 cents to 48.5 cents per mile.
The
October 12 Board Meeting is scheduled at Fayetteville Technical Community
College. The Board will tour the
facilities from 1:00 to 2:00 that afternoon and Mr. Landon will meet with the
Exam Committee afterwards. The Board’s
Christmas Party is December 13 and there will be more information on that at
the next meeting. The Board will
purchase a video/DVD recorder in order to be able to copy their own Trainee
tapes. Fayetteville Tech will provide a
master tape.
Rulemaking
for the Crematory Authority permanent election procedures will be need to begin
in October. On occasions when staff
issues correspondence to a licensee regarding a practice that is not related to
complaint or disciplinary action, that document will be entitled a Letter of
Warning and Instruction to make a distinction between Letters of Caution
related to a disciplinary action. The
fall newsletter is scheduled to be mailed November 1st. Proposed dates for 2006 examinations were
handed out.
New Business: Mr. Harris and Mr. Dirksen had met with Dr. Ahmad-Rufai Abdulla with the Islamic Association of Raleigh. Dr. Abdulla had requested permission for his Mosque to have a large room designated for funeral purposes. Discussion ensued. Mr. Tyson made the motion to deny the request since it does not meet the requirements of North Carolina law. Mr. Daniels seconded and the motion carried.
Ragland Mutual Burial Association, Kernersville, had requested permission for dissolution of their MBA by completed Order. Mr. Daniels made the motion to allow the dissolution. Mr. Manson seconded and the motion carried.
At-need Cremation and Disposition Authorization and Pre-need Cremation and Disposition Authorization forms were presented for approval. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake made the motion to deny approval since there is no statutory authority for separate forms. Mr. Daniels seconded and the motion carried.
A question had been posed regarding a preneed contract and cremation authorization. In the event a preneed contract states cremation and the family cannot agree on a traditional funeral or cremation who can make the decision? Discussion ensued. Mr. Tyson made the motion that anytime an individual executes a cremation authorization on a preneed basis for themselves and allows survivors to change those plans, if more than one person is named and are equally divided in agreement and disagreement with the person’s directive, then the decedents wish will stand unchanged. Otherwise, a majority of those so named will determine the decision. Mr. White seconded and the motion carried.
Fayetteville Tech had received a late application for graduation. This person has the necessary course hours to graduate but will be unable to receive the diploma until June of 2006 because of the application. The individual requested permission to be allowed to sit for the next exam. Discussion ensued. Mr. White made the motion to allow the individual to sit for the next exam. Mr. Tyson seconded. Mr. Manson amended the motion to attach verification to the application. Mr. Daniels seconded. The motion carried. The original motion was then voted upon and passed.
Because of the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act some insurance companies do not provide to preneed licensees insurance policy information if the licensees do not represent the insurance company. Mr. Harris, at the request of a licensee, had researched our files to find correspondence with an insurance company regarding this. There was no reference to this matter in the 2002 minutes or Board reports. The findings are as follows: At the time the preneed contract is completed, the policy holder can direct the insurance company to provide any information requested by the preneed establishment to be given to the establishment. The Board also provides policy information it receives from the companies. Mr. Tyson requested this information be published in the November Board newsletter.
Mr. White made the motion to accept the report. Mr. Andrews seconded and the motion carried.
Old Business: There was none.
Mr. Andrews asked that Mr. Tyson be congratulated since it was his 30th birthday. Mr. Daniels suggested a group photo of the Board members be taken at the beginning of the year. Mr. Blake offered his apology for his misunderstanding regarding the pocket card for the CE program.
Mr.
Blake requested the Traineeship committee to take under their advisement a
program for the accreditation of supervisors for trainees. Discussion ensued.
Information
items were presented for review.
The
meeting adjourned at 2:00 p.m.
Jack
D. Briggs, President
Jody
C. Tyson, Secretary