REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
March 19, 2008
The North
Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting at
9:00 a.m. on March 19, 2008 at the Board’s office,
Present: Mark
Blake, President; J. T. Willoughby III, Secretary; Frank McCree, Sr., T. E.
White, Sr., Jack Briggs, Windell Daniels and Rudy Lea. George Parrott and Larry Andrews were absent.
Also
Present: Paul Harris, Executive
Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Fred Jordan with the NC Eye
Bank, Betty Stoddard with the Funeral Consumers Alliance, Patricia Hayes with
the North Carolina Funeral Directors Association and Lyn Cochrane.
Mr. Blake
called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance and
had the invocation.
Mr. Blake read
the Ethics Awareness & Conflict of Interest Reminder and no one recused
themselves.
Mr. Blake asked
for public comment. Betty Stoddard
invited the Board members to the FCAT Annual Meeting on April 12 and gave each
member an invitation with directions. Mr. Jordan and Ms. Hayes introduced
themselves.
Mr. Harris
stated staff had one item to bring before the Board and yielded the floor to
Mr. Dirksen. Staff was requesting the
11:00 Hearing be continued due to circumstances regarding the attorney for the
plaintiff. Discussion ensued. Mr. White made the motion for the continuance
and that all documents relating to the attorney be turned over to the State
Bar. Mr. Daniels seconded and the motion
carried.
Mr. Willoughby
presented the minutes for the February 13, 2008 meeting. Mr. White made the motion to accept and Mr.
Daniels seconded. The motion carried.
Exam Committee:
Mr. White stated nine individuals took Laws & Rules Examination on
February 19. All were first time and all
passed. Two individuals took the exam on
March 18. Both were first time and both
passed. A request has been sent to the
Conference for a price estimate on the development of the computer based laws
and rules exam. Discussion ensued. This report was for information only.
Finance/Personnel:
Mr. Daniels presented and made a motion to accept the Report. Mr. Harris stated research regarding the
refinancing of the mortgage to a ten-year mortgage would be presented at a
future meeting.
Mr. Briggs
seconded the motion and the motion carried.
Preneed
Committee: In Mr. Andrews absence, Mr. Harris presented
the Preneed Report. With regards to the
issue of funeral home ownership of insurance policies that fund preneed
contracts, in addition to the comments presented at the February meeting, the
Board received written comments from NCFDA expressing concerns on the question
of how ownership affects Medicaid eligibility.
FCAT submitted written comments against funeral home ownership of insurance
policies funding preneed contracts.
Homesteaders Insurance has also contacted him with regards to why they
don’t allow funeral homes as beneficiary of their policies. These copies will be given to the Board
members for their review.
Mr. Harris reported
on compliance with the recently enacted law regarding insurance companies
reporting year-end values to preneed funeral homes. Discussion ensued. Mr. White made the motion to allow the
funeral home to use face value of policy if the insurance company does not
provide the required information. Mr.
Lea seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake called for the vote and the motion
carried.
Discussion
ensued regarding the Preneed Report. Mr.
Daniels made the motion to accept the report.
Mr. Briggs seconded and the motion carried.
Disciplinary: Mr. Lea
presented the report in Mr. Parrott’s absence.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Lea made
the motion to accept the report with the correction wording in M08-005. Mr. Daniels seconded and the motion carried.
At this time there was a ten-minute recess.
Laws, Rules and Legislation: Mr. Briggs reported that the NC Rules Review
Commission approved the proposed changes to the CE rule (21 NCAC 34B) on
February 21. The effective date was
March 1, 2008.
Mr. Briggs yielded the floor to Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris presented the Draft of the
licensed guidelines document. Discussion
ensued. Board members are to review and
comment on this document.
Discussion ensued regarding new rulemaking by NC Rules Review
specifically 26 NCAC 05.0107 “Withdrawal of Rules After Filing with RRC.” Mr. Daniels made the motion for staff to
further research this matter. Mr.
Willoughby seconded and the motion carried.
Clinics: Mr. Lea presented dates that
Fayetteville Technical Community College has available for a seminar. The staff is researching the feasibility to
have the FTCC clinic as a day clinic and schedule the other one in late
July/early August. Mr. Briggs made the
motion to have two separate clinics. Mr.
White seconded and the motion carried.
Other Committee matters: Mr. Blake
stated the Traineeship Committee has credentials for trainee supervisors and
would like to discuss this at the next meeting.
With regards to Dr. Mohammed Hussain’s letter regarding continuing
education, the matter has been addressed in a letter and there has been no
response from Dr. Hussain.
Attorney Report: Mr. Dirksen
presented the report. The afternoon
hearing for 1:30 has requested and met all the requirements for a
continuance. Mr. Daniels made the motion
to accept the requests for continuance.
Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Dirksen stated a request for an order of revocation of a preneed
contract pursuant to NCGS 90-210.65(3) had been received and it met the
requirements of the law. Staff was
recommending granting the request. Mr.
White made the motion to grant the revocation and Mr. Lea seconded. The motion carried.
Mr. Dirksen reported in the past the Board had set the terms for late and
unfiled annual reports: Received up to 15 days after the March 31 deadline as
late. If later than 15 days, they are
treated as unfiled.
Mr. Daniels made the motion and Mr. Briggs seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake called for the vote. Mr. McCree, Mr. Briggs, Mr. Willoughby, Mr. Daniels
and Mr. Blake voted yes. Mr. White voted
No. The motion carried.
Mr. Dirksen updated the Board on a past case involving Thomas Anderson
and the former Lane Anderson Funeral Home that had been referred to the
District Attorney as a criminal case.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Harris
submitted the Inspectors Monthly Status Reports for review.
Since the February 13 Board Meeting, eighteen reports have been
filed. Establishment Changes:
Heritage-Celebration of Life in Charlotte, Perfect Peace Cremations in Newton
and Blake Phillips Funeral Services in Greenville. Location Changes: Rowan Funeral Service, Salisbury
New Funeral Service Licensees: Denise Jones, Samuel James, Wayne
Plemmons, Vonn Folse, Nathaniel Ledford and Max Hayes. New Funeral Director Licensees: Sharon Davis.
New Trainees: David Cooper, April
Breed, Jonathan Brogden, Randy Martin, Amy Shirley, Rosalyn Aycock, Olga
Dickens, Glenda Elliott, Robert Collins.
Ethics Report: E-mails and telephone calls with the different associations,
met with Cremation Association last week.
Board Members SEI forms are due April 15, 2008.
Mr. Harris reported on his meeting in San Antonio with the ICFSEB
Conference. The Conference did not meet
in conjunction with American Board of Funeral Service Examiners this year and
will not meet next year in Williamsburg.
Mr. Harris stated calls and e-mails regarding the funeral education
program at Stratford Institute, which is not accredited by ABFSE or approved by
the Board, have been received for some time.
Some type of wording may be added to the Board’s information that is
sent to trainees regarding this.
The Board’s website is now linked to the General Assembly and Laws and
Rules.
Mr. Harris presented the proposal from LexisNexis regarding the North
Carolina Funeral Service and Cremation Laws and Regulations, 2007 Edition for
information only.
Mr. Harris has contacted the NC Medical Board and Vital Records with
regards to the difficulty in getting signatures on death certificates and a
joint meeting will be scheduled to discuss this problem.
The bond that is now required for preneed funeral establishments has been
filed for several new 2008 licensees.
Mr. Harris has already received several preneed reports from funeral
homes that have been testing the new filing.
This does not take the place of annual reports at this time.
The next meeting is April 16 and 17 and the May meeting is scheduled for
May 14 and 15. A newsletter will be
mailed the end of April.
New Business: Mr. Harris
has received a request from a licensee to be issued his recently deceased
father’s funeral service number.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Harris was
directed to research this to see if this is feasible.
Mr. Blake suggested the new sign for the office has show the hours of 8-5
instead of the current hours of 8:30-4:30.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake
directed Mr. Harris to do a statistical analysis of telephone call received
before 8:30 and after 4:30 to be presented at the April Board meeting.
Old Business: Mr. Briggs
made the motion to delay action on the discussion of funeral home ownership of
insurance policies funding preneed contracts until all Board members are
present. Mr. McCree seconded. Mr. White, Mr. McCree, Mr. Briggs, Mr.
Willoughby and Mr. Daniels voted yes.
Mr. Blake voted no and the motion carried.
Mr. Dirksen stated the 1:00 Hearing was still scheduled.
Mr. Blake
opened the floor for public comment. Ms.
Stoddard thanked the Board for being such a “working” Board and staff.
Informational Items: Mr. Harris
stated letters from the State Ethics Commission regarding all Board members
were included for 2007.
Mr. Blake
discussed the recent accident involving a funeral home limousine and the death
of the ten-year-old girl.
Mr. Blake
recessed the meeting at 11:30 a.m. to reconvene at 1:00 for the Hearing unless
Mr. Dirksen receives the necessary papers for a Compromise Penalty agreement.
Mr. Blake
reconvened the meeting at 12:20 for the purpose of discussing an addendum to
the Disciplinary Committee Report regarding M06-021. Mr. Lea was not present for the discussion.
After review of
M06-021 discussion ensued. Mr. White
made the motion to accept the Consent Order.
Mr. Daniels seconded and the motion carried.
There being no
further business. Mr. White made the
motion to adjourn and Mr. Daniels seconded.
The meeting was adjourned.
Mark
Blake, President
J.T.
Willoughby III, Secretary