REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
September 12, 2007
The North
Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting at
9:00 a.m. on September 12, 2007 at the Board’s office,
Present: T. E.
White, President;
Also
Present: Paul Harris, Executive
Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Fred Jordan with the NC Eye
Bank, Herbert Reichlin and Betty Stoddard with N. C. Funeral Consumer Alliance
of the Triangle and Lyn Cochrane.
Mr. White
called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. and read the Ethics Awareness &
Conflict of Interest Reminder. No one
recused themselves at this time.
Mr. White had
the invocation.
Mr. White
opened the meeting for public comment and there was none.
In the absence
of Mr. Andrews, Mr. White presented the minutes to the Board as previously
mailed and asked if there were any additions or corrections. Mr. Blake stated he had found one correction
on Page 1, under Exam Committee. Mr.
Willoughby stated he had found one correction on Page 1. Mr. Lea made the motion to approve the August
minutes with the corrections. Mr.
Parrott seconded and the motion carried
Exam Committee:
Mr. Blake reported the August exam results. Three applicants took the computer based
pathology exam (two passed one failed).
Nine applicants took laws and rules (eight first time and one
retake). Eight first timers passed and
the retake failing. Mr. Blake stated
discussion at the ICFSEB Tri-State Conference included taking the laws and
rules online and he does want this Board to begin this process, which will
probably take a year to develop. This
report was offered for information only.
Mr. Briggs left
the meeting temporarily via teleconference at 9:10 a.m.
Clinics:
Mr. Lea thanked Mr. Harris for his hard work in arranging the
Continuing
Education: Mr. Willoughby stated the Committee was
recommending basic changes in the CE procedures, mostly wording and yielded the
floor to Mr. Harris.
At this time
Fred Jordan entered the meeting.
Mr. Harris
reviewed the changes and answered questions.
Mr. Willoughby made the motion to proceed with the rulemaking
process. Mr. McCree seconded and the
motion carried. Mr. Briggs did not
vote. Mr. Blake made the motion to have
the staff make any technical changes. Mr.
Willoughby seconded and the motion carried.
Finance Committee: In Mr. Daniels’ absence, Mr. Harris presented
the August financials. He stated that
the litigation account had been adjusted to reflect the new amount as suggested
by the auditors and will show a descending balance. The staff will recommend transfer from the
undesignated reserves to the litigation reserves as needed. This report was offered for information only.
Mr. Briggs returned to the meeting via teleconference at
9:22 a.m.
Mr. Harris stated the 2008 budget was 90% complete and he
will have it for the Committee to review before month end.
Preneed
Committee: In Mr. Andrews’ absence, Mr. Harris submitted
the preneed report. Mr. Harris stated
the Committee had met by teleconference Tuesday morning and were recommending
adoption of the proposed draft of a new preneed verification form. Mr. Reichlin has helped with the more reader
friendly text. Mr. Blake made the motion
to accept the form and Mr. Willoughby seconded.
The motion carried. The staff reported two requests for Board action to
revoke irrevocable preneed contracts under the authority of recent changes to
preneed law. Mr. Dirksen has prepared an
order for use to revoke irrevocable preneed contracts when a beneficiary has moved
out of state and has entered into a preneed contract with an out of state
funeral home. The Committee was
recommending approval of this order and to make it policy to notify the
Department of Social Services in the county of the original contracting funeral
home. Mr. Briggs made the motion to
approve the Preneed Committee’s recommendation and Mr. Blake seconded. The motion carried.
Disciplinary: Mr. Parrott
stated the Committee had met last week and the report had been previously
mailed. Mr. Dirksen stated there was an
addendum to the previously mailed report.
Discussion ensued.
Mr. Briggs left
the meeting temporarily via teleconference at 9:40 a.m. and Mr. White tabled
the Disciplinary committee report and asked Mr. Dirksen to present his Attorney
Report.
Attorney’s Report: Mr. Dirksen
presented his report. He informed the
Board that he had received an informal opinion from the Board of Ethics that a
Board member filing a complaint cannot serve or participate in the meeting and
will have to recuse himself from sitting on the Board during this process. Mr. Dirksen had received a Motion for
Continuance for one hearing for today and, if approved, will be heard at the
November meeting.
Mr. Briggs returned to the meeting via teleconference at
9:45 a.m.
Mr. Parrott made the motion to accept the Motion for
Continuance. Mr. Lea seconded and the
motion carried. Mr. Dirksen recommended
dismissal of one case for today since the licensee has paid the licensing and
late fee and insufficient check fees and is in an inactive status. Mr. Parrott made the motion to dismiss and
Mr. Blake seconded. The motion carried.
At this time Mr. Dirksen reviewed the informal opinion
from the Board of Ethics for Mr. Briggs and Mr. White returned to the
Disciplinary Committee report.
Questions ensued with regards to the addendum. Mr. Lea made the motion to accept the
Disciplinary Report. Mr. Blake seconded
and the motion carried. Mr. Lea made the
motion to accept the Consent Order for M05-019.
Mr. Willoughby seconded and the motion carried.
Laws, Rules and Legislation: Mr. Briggs
yielded the floor to Mr. Harris. Mr.
Harris stated the Committee had met by teleconference yesterday afternoon to
discuss how to publish the new law books and the cost of producing the law
book. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake made the motion for the staff to
proceed with the research on loose-leaf law books and the cost involved. Mr. White called for the vote and the motion
carried.
At this time Mr. Briggs disconnected from the Board meeting at 10:05 a.m.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Harris
submitted the Inspectors Monthly Status Reports for review.
Since the August 8, 2007 Board Meeting, twenty-four reports have been
filed. The following are establishment
changes: New funeral homes—Village Road
Memorial Chapel, Leland and Elite Funeral Services, Inc., Ellerbe;
Closed—Bowling Funeral Home, Scotland Neck, Sunrise Cremation & Burial,
Inc., Raleigh and Johnson Funeral Home, Charlotte; Change of Ownership—Sykes
Funeral Service, Scotland Neck (formerly Bowling). Crematories—SouthCentral Crematorium, Raeford
and Triangle Cremation Services, Raleigh (change of ownership—formerly
New funeral licenses have been issued to: funeral services licenses—John
Ivie, Gary Best, Steven Marcinkowski, John Belvill, Adam Hurt, Roger Seay, Adam
Roper and Willis Groce III; new funeral director licenses—Mitchell Sigmon and
Marvin Strickland III; new trainees—Deborah Cory, Seth Bowden, Alana Henderson,
Clark Sides, Amanda Moss and Scott Brown.
Mr. Harris presented locations available for the Board Members to attend
the required Ethics Training. The Board
Newsletter is scheduled to be mailed September 17 or 18. Mr. Harris presented totals for the 2006
Preneed Annual Report—Trust funded contracts @ $154,865.094 and Insurance
funded contracts @ $818,918,633. Mr.
Harris presented a recap of the ICFSEB Tri-State Conference in
Mr. Blake thanked the Board for allowing him to go with Mr. Harris. He commended Mr. Harris and former Executive
Directors for having the insight to have policy and laws already developed when
other states were struggling or had no regulation at all for preneed. Mr. Harris stated the former attorney, the
late William Hoke, deserved credit for his work on the Boards laws and rules.
Mr. Harris has had conversations with persons trying to prohibit
commercial exhibits such as the “Bodies” exhibit currently showing in
Several weeks ago Mr. Dirksen spoke to a Gaston County Police Department
regarding
Mr. Harris discussed website changes he was making and using links
directly to the General Assembly and Administrative Code websites.
Mr. Reichlin departed the meeting at 10:45 a.m.
Mr. White called for a five-minute recess at 10:50 a.m.
Upon returning Inspector Lisenbee entered the meeting and made comments
and answered questions. Mr. Blake
commended him on his reports. Mr. Harris
commended him on his understanding of preneed and the job he had been doing.
Ms. Stoddard re-entered to the meeting at 11:10 a.m.
New Business: Mr. Harris
presented the Official Ballot for the 2007 election to the North Carolina
Crematory Authority. Discussion
ensued. Mr. Blake made the motion to
mail the ballots on October 1, 2007 and have them delivered back to the Board’s
office no later than 4:30 p.m. on November 1, 2007, and canvas the Ballots at
the November 14th Board Meeting at 11:00 a.m. Mr. Willoughby seconded and the motion
carried.
Mr. Harris presented the Order of Liquidation for the Warlick Mutual Burial
Association, Lincolnton. Mr. Willoughby
made the motion to accept the Order and Mr. Parrott seconded. The motion carried.
Mr. Harris stated that, with the new laws, the Board has the authority to
dissolve an MBA when the funeral home has closed and they were preparing to do
such for a couple of MBA’s. Discussion
ensued.
Old Business. There was none.
Informational Items: There were
none.
Mr. White
opened the meeting for public comment and there was none.
Mr. White
adjourned the meeting at 11:19 a.m.
T. E.
White, Sr., President