REGULAR
BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
February
14, 2007
The North Carolina Board of Funeral
Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting at 9:00 a.m. on February 14,
2007 at the Board’s office,
Present: T. E. White, President;
Vice President, Mark Blake; Larry Andrews, Secretary; Rudy Lea, William Manson,
Frank McCree, Sr., George Parrott and Jack Briggs by Teleconference.
Absent: Windell Daniels.
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, Harriett Bartnick with N. C.
Funeral Alliance, James Lancaster with Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home, Inc., and
Lyn Cochrane.
Mr. White called the meeting to
order at 9:07 a.m. and had the invocation.
Mr. White read the Ethics Awareness
& Conflict of Interest Reminder. No
one recused themselves at this time.
Mr. White opened the meeting for
public comment and Ms. Bartnick addressed several concerns from the January 10,
2007 meeting. Ms. Bartnick also noted a
correction to the January meeting stating that it was not organ tissue recovery
but tissue recovery.
Mr. Andrews presented the January
minutes to the Board as previously mailed.
Mr. Blake made a motion to accept the January minutes with the
correction. Mr. McCree seconded and the
motion carried. Mr. Andrews noted the
December minutes had one correction. The
nomination for Secretary by acclimation should be changed from Mr. White’s name
to Mr. Andrews name.
Exam Committee: Mr. Blake stated the staff is working with
the International Conference and the new testing company (Pearson Vue)
regarding the new computer based pathology exam and the timely release of
scores. Discussion ensued.
Mr. Blake stated in January six
applicants took laws and rules (two were retakes). There was one first time
failure. Three applicants took
pathology, all passing (one first time).
Finance/Personnel
Committee: In Mr. Daniels absence, Mr. Harris presented
the January financials noting because of the pathology exam charge, a change
should be made to miscellaneous or exam budget line. Mr. Parrott made the motion to change the
exam budget line to reflect the pathology exam charge. Mr. Lea seconded the motion carried. Mr. Harris also noted that at the next
meeting discussion should include moving $60000 from the operating account to
the reserve account.
Preneed Committee: Mr. Andrews presented the report and then
deferred to Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris was
asked about renewals and he gave the following information: 8 preneed funeral establishment have not
renewed; 12 funeral homes have not renewed; 72 active licensees and 25 inactive
licensees have not renewed; 2 chapels, 1 crematory and 2 unaffiliated have not
renewed.
Mr. Harris submitted a Pre-Need
Contract Transfer Form from the Preneed Committee for review. Discussion ensued. An opinion from the NC Department of Revenue
regarding North Carolina sales and use tax liability on preneed funeral
contracts was included for review. A
letter from a preneed sales licensee with Cox-Needham Funeral Services
regarding preneed sales for more than one funeral home was presented for
review. Discussion ensued.
Mr. Harris stated the current
approved interest on funds paid out of the recovery fund for 2006 was
1.5%. Mr. Parrott made the motion to
adjust the rate for 2007 to 2.3%. Mr.
Blake seconded and the motion carried.
Disciplinary: Mr. Parrott
stated the Disciplinary Committee report had been previously mailed. Questions ensued. With regards to M07-001 Mr. Dirksen asked
that it be modified by adding if there is no other disciplinary action against
the licensee. Mr. Andrews made the
motion to accept M07-001 with the change and Mr. Lea seconded. The motion carried. Discussion continued and Mr. Blake made the
motion to accept the recommendations by the Disciplinary Committee. Mr. Andrews seconded and the motion carried.
Laws,
Rules and Legislation: Mr. Briggs yielded the floor Mr. Harris who
stated the changes have been submitted to all committees. They have not met due to some scheduling
conflicts. He suggested publishing the
proposed changes and send them out to the Board’s interested party list and
invite comment. Mr. Manson made the motion
to authorize Mr. Harris to do so and Mr. Parrott seconded the motion.
Mr. Blake
asked Mr. Harris to include the Traineeship Committee suggestion that the
trainee supervisor must be licensed in North Carolina for five years with no
disciplinary action and in good standing with the Board in order to supervise a
trainee. Discussion ensued.
Attorney’s
Report: Mr. Dirksen presented the Case Report as of
February 13, 2007. Mr. Dirksen stated
the Board had received a request by an applicant from England to reciprocate a
license. He has completed educational
requirements but England does not issue government permits or licenses. Discussion ensued.
Mr. White
stated he had not called for the vote on the Laws, Rules and Legislation motion
to send the proposed changes to the interest party list. He did so at this time and the motion
carried.
Mr.
Andrews made the motion to deny the request for the reciprocal license. Mr.
Manson seconded and the motion carried.
Staff was directed to arrange comparison of the applicant’s education
qualifications with the American Board of Funeral Service Education curriculum.
Legislation
is being sponsored by the N. C. Bar Association that may affect the Board. Mr. Dirksen is in touch with the Bar
Association with regards to this change.
Mr.
Manson would like unaffiliated licensees address in some legislation and some
discussion regarding this by the Committee.
The Board
took a ten-minute recess at 10:25.
Executive
Director’s Report: Mr. Harris submitted the Inspectors Monthly
Status Reports for review. Since January
10, 2007, twenty-one reports have been filed.
The following are establishment changes since January 10, 2007: Galloway funeral Home, Eden, closed; Horton
Funeral Home, Sanford, closed; Hudson Funeral, Creedmoor, will not re-open;
Boone-Reynolds Funeral Service, Eden, change of ownership; Hayworth-Miller-Cain
Funeral Service, Kernersville, change of ownership; Floyd Funeral Service,
Fairmont, change of ownership; New Funeral Homes—Cornerston Funeral Home &
Cremation, Nashville; Herring Funeral Care & Cremations, Fayetteville;
Tally Watson Funeral Service, Rockingham.
2006
Inspections: 164 establishment
inspections; 156 preneed audits; 33 crematory inspections; 4 chapel
inspections.
Mr. Blake
commended Inspector Susan Cox for her diligence in the inspection of Eastern and Central areas in the absence of
an inspector. Mr. Harris stated
Inspector Carolyn Connor was assisting Ms. Cox with some of the Central area
until the new inspector was hired. Mr.
Harris expects the new inspector to in
place by mid April.
New
funeral director licenses have been issued to: Karen Reardon, George Durham,
Tracey Cartwright and Gretchen Thigpen.
New funeral service licenses have been issued to Duston Nowatka, Rodrigo
Salazar, Briant Gargis, Kelvin Cooper, Tiffany Ridenhour, Mohammed Hussain and
Marinda Ruffin. Trainees registered are
Timothy Garrett and Wesley Hendrix.
Mr.
Harris reported on the FARB Conference he had attended in San Antonio, Texas.
Mr.
Harris has spoken with the representative from US Air regarding the death
certificate requirement and the assistant to the head of the legal department
is researching this and will respond to Mr. Harris’ request.
Mr.
Miranda has completed the MBA database and it is now ready for data to be
entered.
Mr.
Harris will begin submitting an ethics report monthly with any contact he has
had with a licensee or association during that month: On January 11 he registered as the Board’s
legislative liaison the N. C. Secretary of State. He is in contact with the North Carolina
Funeral Directors Association regarding the accredited CE provider approval and
proposed legislation and the FD & MA of NC, Inc. legislative monitor, Mr.
Lancaster, on some insurance issues and preneed issues. He had been invited to attend a breakfast with Mr.
Blake provided by a local civic organization and Mr. Blake’s employer had been
attendance, however, no Board business had been discussed.
The
Board’s website has been updated and the interactive forms are now available
without the gray shading.
Allen
& Pinnix will provide an Ethics Training class at the next Board meeting on
March 15. There is an Anatomy Commission
meeting on April 4. The Public Bill
deadline is April 10. The ICFSEB Annual
Convention will be held April 21 – 22, 2007 in Nashville, Tennessee. The NCFDA Education Conference &
Exposition is May 8 – 10, in High Point.
The Board has been given a booth.
An
inspector inquired as to the grandfather provision and how that would apply to
a funeral home changing from a partnership to an LLC with the same owners. Discussion ensued. This item will be discussed more at the March
meeting.
Mr.
Harris presented an Adopting Resolution for the Board’s 401(k) plan. Mr. Parrott made the motion to adopt the
resolution and Mr. Lea seconded. The
motion carried.
New
Business: The 2006 MBA assessment for 2006 was $100 per
MBA and $.35 per member. At this time
Mr. Briggs and Mr. White recused themselves from the discussion; however, Mr.
White continued as presiding officer.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Manson
moved to table the motion pursuant to the Board’s policy on adopting certain
recommendations at the same meeting in which they are made. Mr. Harris was directed to publish to the
interested parties list the information that the Board was considering the same
assessments for 2007.
There was
no old business.
Informational
Items: Mr. Harris submitted a newspaper article
regarding Jack Briggs and Vickie Downing.
Mr. White opened the meeting for
public comment and there was none. Mr.
White adjourned the meeting until the 1:00 Hearing.
T.
E. White, Sr., President
Larry
R. Andrews, Secretary