REGULAR BOARD MEETING

 

MINUTES

 

October 12, 2005

 

 

 

The North Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting on October 12, 2005, in the Board Room of the Tony Rand Student Center at Fayetteville Technical Community College, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

 

Present:  Jack Briggs, President; Jody Tyson, Secretary; Mark Blake, William Manson, Larry Andrews, T. E. White, Sr., and George Parrott.

 

Also Present:  Paul Harris, Executive Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Fred Jordan and Lyn Cochrane.

 

President Jack Briggs called the meeting to order at 9:12 a.m. and had the invocation.

 

Mr. Briggs read Governor Easley’s Executive order #1 and no one recused themselves at this time.

 

At this time Michael Landon, Funeral Service Education Department Chair of Fayetteville Technical Community College was recognized for comments.  He introduced Dr. J. C. Basnight, Vice President for Academic & Student Services, who also had comments.

 

Mr. Briggs opened the floor for public comments and there were none.

 

Mr. Tyson stated the minutes for the September meeting had been previously mailed to the Board and there were corrections.  Page 3, Paragraph 7, the first sentence should have added to the end “be provided to the Board members” and in the second sentence, Mr. Blade should be changed to Mr. Blake.  Mr. Blake then added a correction for his request that the traineeship take under their advisement for the accreditation of supervisors of trainees.   Mr. Tyson made the motion to approve with corrections the minutes and the motion carried.

 

CE Committee:  Mr. Tyson stated there was no report.

 

Disciplinary Committee:  Mr. Parrott stated that the disciplinary cases had been previously mailed but since several members had not received their copy, he would allow time to review the cases.  Discussion ensued regarding V05-036, specifically the Board’s jurisdiction regarding timely filing of Certificates of Death.   At 9:25 Mr. Manson arrived.  Mr. Tyson made the motion for Mr. Dirksen to write the Warning and Instruction letter because of the excessive time taken to file the death certificate.  Mr. Blake seconded and the motion carried.  After more discussion regarding the cases, Mr. White made the motion to accept the Disciplinary Report.  Mr. Andrews seconded.  Mr. White, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Blake, Mr. Parrott, and Mr. Manson voted for and Mr. Tyson voted against.  The motion carried.

 

Clinics:  Mr. Manson stated there was no report.

 

Preneed Report:  Mr. Andrews presented the Preneed Report.

Examination Report:  Mr. Blake stated there was no report and deferred the meeting to Mr. Harris.  Mr. Harris stated the Scantron grading machine was in the Board’s office.  Thirty-three applicants had taken the exam on Monday and the statistics of passage or failure regarding the pathology exam were not yet available.  A meeting would be soon planned for the computer-based testing.  The Committee was meeting with Mr. Landon after the Board meeting to discuss concerns regarding the pathology exam.  Discussion ensued regarding exam retakes and the testing locations being used, specifically that the locale of some locations may not be as central as it could be.

 

Laws, Rules & Legislation:  Mr. White deferred the meeting to Mr. Harris for discussion regarding the filing deadlines for approval of the Election to Crematory Authority General Provisions.  Mr. White made the motion to approve 21 NCAC 34C .0101 and submit this to the North Carolina Register for publication.  Mr. Parrott 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.   Mr. Dirksen requested continuance of  M05-009, which is scheduled to be heard at 2:00 on Thursday until the November meeting pending additional information that may come forward.  Discussion ensued.  Mr. Parrot made the motion to accept the recommendation and Mr. White seconded.  The motion carried.  Mr. Tyson asked questions regarding the timeline of some cases.  Mr. Dirksen stated that only a few cases were pre-2004, the remainder were either from the 2004 calendar year or the 2005 calendar year.

 

Executive Director’s Report:  Mr. Harris recognized Corrine J. Culbreth, Board Inspector, for comments pursuant to the Board’s earlier request to invite each Inspector to meet with the Board.  Ms. Culbreth reported on preneed and atneed matters that she found as an inspector in the field.   Ms. Culbreth thanked the Board for the additional $100.00 stipend that had been granted for travel expenses due to the increased fuel costs.  Discussion ensued.  Mr. Briggs thanked Ms. Culbreth for attending .

 

At this time (10:40 a.m.) the Board recessed and Mr. Landon returned to take the Board on a tour of the Fayetteville Technical Community College Mortuary School.

 

The Board reconvened at 12:55 p.m. and Mr. Harris continued his report.  There had been 316 inspections with reports filed as of October 11, 2005.  Sixteen inspections had been completed since the September 21, 2005, meeting.  One new crematory opened; two ownership changes; two new funeral homes opened; one funeral home closed.  Three establishments had been cited for various reasons—pricing issues, improper ID, unsigned SG/SS and one previously cited for preparation room cleanliness was found improved.

 

The Inspectors’ Monthly Activity Reports were submitted for review.  Vincent Miranda is continuing the development of the CE administrative computer programming.  Four new funeral service licenses have been issued, three funeral service licenses have been reinstated, two funeral director licenses have been issued, one funeral director license was converted to funeral service and three trainees have registered since September 21, 2005.  The Scantron machine has been received.  Third quarter reports have been mailed to Department of Commerce and one for the State Controller’s office is being worked on.  A hardcopy draft of the Board’s newsletter should be ready Friday.  The website is being upgraded for a licensee search.

 

Finance:  In Windell Daniels’ absence, Mr. Harris presented the Finance Report.  Questions ensued regarding exam fees and the fees for retakes.  Mr. White made the motion to approve the financials and Mr. Andrews seconded.  The motion carried.  Mr. Blake made the motion to begin the computer-based testing for Conference Exam for Funeral Directors on January 1, 2006, and Mr. Andrews seconded.  Discussion ensued.  Mr. Briggs called for the vote and the motion carried.

 

New Business:  Mr. Tyson made the motion to hold a Board meeting at Fayetteville Technical Community College annually.  Mr. Blake seconded.  Mr. Briggs stated that the meeting in Fayetteville created additional expenses.  There was no further discussion, and the motion carried.

 

Old Business:  There was none.

 

Information items were presented for review.

 

Mr. Briggs opened the floor for public comments and there were none.

 

The meeting adjourned at 1:35 p.m.

 

 

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                    Jack D. Briggs, President

 

 

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                    Jody C. Tyson, Secretary