REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
February 8, 2006
The
North Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting
on February 8, 2006, at the Board’s office located at
Present: Jack Briggs, President; Mark Blake,
Secretary; Jody Tyson, William Manson, Rudy Lea and Windell Daniels.
Also
Present: Paul Harris, Executive
Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Patricia Hayes, Fred Jordan, Pam
Scott and Lyn Cochrane.
Mr.
Briggs called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m. and read Governor Easley’s
Executive order #1 and no one recused themselves at this time.
Mr.
Briggs asked for a moment of silence in memory of Mrs. Rose Moody, mother of
former Board member and President Bob Moody, and then gave the invocation.
Mr.
Briggs opened the floor for public comment.
There were no comments.
Mr.
Blake stated the minutes for the January meeting had been previously mailed to
the Board and appeared correct. Mr.
Blake made the motion to approve the minutes and Mr. Daniels seconded. The motion carried.
CE
Committee: Mr. Manson stated there was no report.
Disciplinary
Committee: In Mr. Parrott’s absence, Mr. Harris
presented the Disciplinary Committee Report.
Questions ensued regarding V05-049 and V05-061. Mr. Daniels made the motion to accept the
report with the exception of V05-049.
Mr. Manson seconded and the motion carried. Mr. Tyson made the motion to issue a Notice
of Hearing with regards to V05-049. Mr.
Blake seconded and the motion carried.
Mr.
Blake stated he had received a copy of a letter written by Board staff to a
transport company with regards to their ad addressing comments regarding
casketing and dressing a body. Mr.
Harris stated a Letter of Warning had been written to the transport company
because someone had sent him a copy of the ad.
No formal complaint had been made so it had not been given to the
Disciplinary Committee. The transport
company was of the opinion that since the letter was “just a letter of warning”
the Board members may not agree. Mr. Lea
suggested that Mr. Harris invite him to the March Board meeting so the Board
could inform him that casketing and dressing a body was not related to a
transport permit.
Finance
and Personnel: Mr. Daniels presented the January
financials. Mr. Harris informed the
Board that Deferred Income would be moved to the proper account after the audit
in May.
Mr.
Daniels stated he had received a request from Mr. Harris regarding vacation in
October of 2007. Mr. Harris will be away
from the office for ten working days and wanted the Board to be aware of that
time.
Preneed
Report: Mr. Harris presented the Preneed Report in
the absence of Mr. Andrews. The entering
of contracts had been interrupted while the annual reports were being run and
mailed. 678 of the 687 preneed funeral
establishments have renewed. 1,754
The
Preneed Committee had met earlier with Mr. Harris, Mr. Briggs and Mr. Manson in
attendance and Mr. Andrews by teleconference.
The Board had received an inquiry regarding when a funeral home is
allowed to retain 10% on a transferred contract. They were informed that disclosure in the
appropriate place on the front of the contract is required. The Disciplinary Committee was recommending
that going forward from today the right to withhold must be indicated on the
front of the contract. Mr. Tyson made
the motion to accept the recommendation by the Disciplinary Committee with
regards to contract dated between the dates of July 10, 1992 and September 30,
2003. Mr. Manson seconded and the motion
carried.
The
Preneed Manual indicates that 10% of the funds in the bank can be withheld but
that should read 10% of the funds deposited (not including interested earned on
the account). Mr. Manson made the motion
to have Mr. Harris correct the wording in the Preneed Manual to agree with the
recommendation by the Disciplinary Committee.
Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried.
Examination
Report: Mr. Blake stated the information requested at
the January Board meeting regarding those December test applicants re-testing
for pathology showed six of the sixteen applicants took the pathology
exam. All were re-tests and all passed. The remaining test applicants took Laws and
Rules only and all passed. In January
three applicants took the Laws and Rules and all passed.
Mr.
Blake and Mr. Harris had spoken by telephone with Dalene Paul with the
International Conference regarding the available options for the pathology
test. Since he had not had time to
present this information to the Examination Committee, a recommendation would
not be made until the March meeting.
The
ScanTron results are still being reviewed with Staff.
Attorney’s
Report: Mr. Dirksen reported that the status of cases
pending was provided to the Board for their review. The Disciplinary Committee had received and
was recommending a Request for Continuance with regards to V04-054, V05-04 and
V05-043. With regards to NCBFS v.
Melton-Riddle and Ronnie A. Riddle since there will not a quorum, Mr. Dirksen
requested a motion to continue to a later date.
Mr. Tyson made the motion to approve the recommendations. Mr. Daniels seconded and the motion carried.
Mr.
Briggs requested that if the case set for February 27 is not resolved at that
time, the Board will move immediately on the matter.
Executive
Director’s Report: Mr. Harris stated the Inspector’s Reports and
the new licenses issued and trainees registered were presented for
information. Sixteen reports have been
filed in 2006--three with FTC/pricing issues.
Questions ensued. Mr. Blake would
like for the inspectors to focus on this issue.
There was one change in ownership—Rountree & Associates in
712
of 733 establishments have renewed for 2006.
2,495 of 2,500 individual licensees have renewed and 153 of 169 inactive
licenses have renewed. 73 of 74
crematories have renewed.
The
MBA assessment rate will be set after the financial reports are received. Notes from the January 13 meeting with
officials from the NC Division of Public Health regarding a Pandemic Flu action
plan was presented along with ideas for Board assistance. The dates 102nd ICBFEB Annual
Convention in
Mr.
Blake noted he would like to see the Board have an emergency action plan. A committee should be formed and a plan
readied.
At
this time Mr. Briggs called for a recess.
The Board reconvened at 10:30.
New
Business: Mr. Daniels suggested the Board retreat be
held in conjunction with a Board meeting.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Harris
would like each committee to meet and submit a proposed plan for this
retreat. Mr. Harris and Mr. Briggs will
plan the retreat.
Old Business: Mr. Harris submitted the proposed text to be submitted to the NC Rules Review for the election to the Crematory Authority, which had been previously approved. Mr. Tyson made the motion to submit this to Rules Review. Mr. Lea seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs called for the vote and the motion carried.
Mr. Harris informed the Board that the Islamic Association of Raleigh had withdrawn their proposal. Discussion ensued. Mr. Harris will be in touch with the City of Raleigh Zoning Department to see if the Board can be notified of any activity.
Information
items: There was none.
Mr.
Briggs recognized Pat Hayes and congratulated her on her upcoming
birthday. Mr. Blake stated he also would
be celebrating a milestone birthday the end of February.
Mr.
Briggs suggested that when there is a light agenda, no meeting be held but meet for Hearings. Discussion ensued. The News and Observer recently had an
article regarding funeral homes and comments by Mr. Harris. This article will be included in a future
Board mailing.
The
meeting recessed at 10:50 and reconvened at 1:00 for NCBFS vs. Joe Ward,
Jr. Mr. Lea was not present for the
hearing. Mr. Andrews and Mr. Daniels participated
by teleconference.
Jack
D. Briggs, President
Mark
Blake, Secretary