REGULAR
BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
December
13, 2006
The North Carolina Board of Funeral
Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting at 9:00 a.m. on December 13,
2006 at the Board’s office,
Present: Jack Briggs, President; T.
E. White, Sr., Vice President; Mark Blake, Secretary; Rudy Lea, William Manson,
Windell Daniels, Larry Andrews, and Frank McCree, Sr. Absent was George Parrott.
Also Present: Paul Harris, Executive Director; Stephen N.
Dirksen, General Counsel; Patricia Hayes with the N. C. Funeral Directors
Association, Fred Jordan with the NC Eye Bank, Tom West with Poyner, Spruill
and Lyn Cochrane.
Mr. Briggs called the meeting to
order at 9:05 a.m. and welcomed and introduced new Board member, Frank G.
McCree, Sr. Mr. McCree addressed the
Board.
Mr. Briggs read a Resolution of
Service for former Board member Jody C. Tyson.
Mr. White made the motion to accept the resolution and to include it as
a part of the minutes and to mail it to Mr. Tyson. Mr. White seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Briggs read Governor’s
Executive Order No. One. No one recused
themselves at this time.
Mr. Briggs opened the meeting for
public comment and there was none.
Mr. Daniels made a motion to accept
the November minutes. Mr. Lea seconded
and the motion carried.
Exam Committee: Mr. Blake yielded the floor to Mr. Harris for
information regarding the computer-based testing. Dalene Paull with International Conference
has e-mailed Mr. Harris with the final steps to bringing the testing on-line
for January. Mr. Harris offered the
following specifications: exam time is 57 minutes; items presented will be in
random order; passing score is 30 items out of 40; scores are presented without
decimals and are not rounded up; candidates may make comments during the exam
period; candidates may mark items to return to later during the exam period;
candidates may review items during the exam period; candidates may skip
items. Discussion ensued.
Finance/Personnel
Committee: Mr. Daniels presented the November
financials. Mr. White made the motion to
accept the report. Mr. Lea seconded and
the motion carried. Mr. Daniels made the
motion to bring the draft budget to the floor for discussion. Mr. White seconded and the motion
carried. Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs requested Mr. Daniels to bring the
budget back for more discussion later in the meeting.
Preneed Committee: Mr. Andrews presented the report and made the
motion to accept the report. Mr. Manson
seconded and the motion carried. Mr.
Briggs stated that today was Mr. Andrews’ birthday and the Board members
responded to him.
Disciplinary: Mr. Lea
yielded the floor to Mr. Dirksen. Mr.
Dirksen presented the Disciplinary Committee’s Report with one addendum. Mr. Blake made the motion to accept the
previously mailed Disciplinary Committee Report. Mr. Daniels seconded. The motion carried. Discussion ensued regarding the Addendum for
cases V05-049, M05-013 and M05-027. Mr.
Daniels made the motion to accept the addendum and Mr. Lea seconded. Mr. Briggs called for the vote and the motion
failed. Discussion ensued. Mr. Andrews made the motion to accept the
Disciplinary Committee recommendation for M05-027. Mr. Blake seconded and the motion
carried. Additional discussion ensued
regarding M05-013 and V05-049. Mr. White
made the motion to reject M05-013 and V05-049 in their present form and direct
them back to staff for corrections. Mr.
Daniels seconded and the motion carried.
.
Laws,
Rules and Legislation: Mr. White stated that there was an effort to
re-write of the Health Care Power of Attorney statute and then yielded the
floor to Mr. Harris. The N. C. Bar
Association has drafted some changes that would affect crematory and preneed
laws. Staff is reviewing. Board proposed legislation changes will be
sent to members in a color-coded format.
Attorney’s
Report: Mr. Dirksen presented the report. Mr. Dirksen presented for information only
the latest fax the Board had received regarding the SCI/Alderwoods merger. Discussion ensued.
At 10:15
there was a ten-minute recess.
At this
time Inspector Carolyn Connor entered the meeting and Mr. West departed.
Executive
Director’s Report:
At this time Ms. Connor presented her Inspector Report. Questions ensued. Mr. White commended Ms. Connor for her good
work and Mr. Briggs thanked Ms. Connor for her report and stated she
represented the Board well. Ms. Connor
departed the meeting at 11:40 a.m.
Mr.
Harris stated the North Carolina Funeral Directors Association and the Funeral
Directors and Morticians Association of NC, Inc. had submitted their
recommendations to the Governor for appointment/re-appointment. Mr. Andrews and Mr. Blake had been
reappointed to the Board. Mr. Manson’s
term expires June 2007 and June McLaurin Jeffers name had been submitted by the
FD & MA of NC, Inc.
Mr.
Harris submitted the Inspectors Monthly Status Reports for review. Since November 15, 2006, thirty-two reports
have been filed; one new chapel:
Hertford County Undertakers Union-Gates Chapel. Permit
actually sent in January 2006 but physical location not ready until November
2006. Funeral Service licenses have been
issued to Amanda Sanford, Carl Barnekow, Kellie Dellinger, Dennis Sparks,
William Fisk, Shawna Sanders, and Margaret Hall; Funeral Director Licenses have
been issued to: Russell Roakes and Kema
Boney. Trainees registered are Jerry Sadler, Nadeia Chambers, Michael St. Onge,
Darius Horton, Barry Chadwirk and Cornell Whitehead.
The 2007
renewals were mailed out on November 29, 2006.
The continuing educations hours were spot checked prior to this mailing.
The
Mutual Burial Association database will be ready the first of January. The information will be taken from the 3x5
index cards and entered into the database.
Mr.
Harris continues to work with the State Dmort teams and several licensees have
indicated their willingness to serve on this team.
Mr.
Harris submitted the House report on tissue recovery and funeral homes. Discussion ensued. Mr.
Mr.
Harris has spoken with Jack Nichols of Allen & Pinnix and he is developing
an ethics-training program that will be submitted to the Board of Ethics for
their approval.
Because
of the
New
Business: Mr. Briggs opened the floor for 2007 Board
officer nominations. Mr. Daniels
nominated Mr. White for President. Mr.
Andrews seconded. There were no other
nominations and Mr. Manson made the motion to close the nominations. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried to
close the nominations and to name Mr. White president. Mr. White nominated Mr. Blake for Vice
President. Mr. McCree seconded. There were no other nominations and Mr.
Andrews made the motion to close the nominations. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried to
close the nominations and to name Mr. Blake vice president. Mr. Blake nominated Mr. Andrews for
Secretary. Mr. Daniels seconded. Mr. White made the motion to close the
nominations and name Mr. Andrews Secretary by acclimation. Mr. McCree seconded and the motion carried. Mr. White presented Mr. Briggs with an
outgoing president gift. Mr. Briggs
thanked the Board Members for their support and stated it was his honor to
serve as president for two years and he was thankful to the Board Staff for all
their help. Mr. Briggs thanked Mr. And
Mrs. Lea for inviting the staff and board to his home for dinner on Tuesday.
Mr.
Harris submitted the Calendar for 2007 and for review of the meetings for next
year.
Mr.
Dirksen stated he had received a signed consent order for the Thursday hearing
and the Committee’s recommendation to adopt this order for Case V05-008,
V05-016 and V05-020. Discussion
ensued. Mr. White made the motion to
accept the Committee’s recommendation and Mr. Daniels seconded. The motion carried.
New
Business: Mr. Harris submitted letters from Crematory
Election Candidates K. Vickie Downing and William E. “Billy” Babb, Jr. for
consideration. Neither party was in
attendance. After review of the letters
Mr. Briggs called for the vote. Mr. Daniels,
Mr. Blake, Mr. White, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Manson, and Mr. McCree voted for Ms.
Downing. Mr. Lea voted for Mr. Babb. Ms. Downing was declared the new Crematory
Authority member.
Mr.
Briggs made comments regarding unfinished business he would have liked to
completed in 2006. This included a
preneed bond and/or the tightening of rules and regulations on who is to be
issued a preneed license. He also
apologized for not following through with a Board retreat.
Informational
Items: Mr. Harris submitted the 2007 Rulemaking
Calendar for 2007, the September issue of the Board of Ethics newsletter, and a
copy of Session Law 2006-201 House Bill 1843 which is the new State Government
Ethics Act.
Mr.
Harris introduced Mary Shuping with Allen and Pinnix. Mr. Daniels made the motion to go into closed
session to discuss staff performance.
Mr. Blake seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Daniels made the motion to come
back into open session. Mr. Blake
seconded and the Board returned to open session. Mr. Daniels made the motion to accept the
2007 Budget as approved. Mr. Manson
seconded and the motion carried.
The
meeting adjourned at 11:55 a.m.
Mr. Briggs opened the meeting for
public comment and there was none. Mr.
Briggs adjourned the meeting at 12:50 p.m.
Jack
D. Briggs, President
Mark
Blake, Secretary