REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
July 16, 2008
The North
Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting at
9:00 a.m. on July 16,2008 at the Board’s office,
Present:
Also
Present: Paul Harris, Executive
Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Betty Stoddard and Herb Reichlin
with the Funeral Consumers Alliance, Larry Stegall with the North Carolina
Funeral Directors Association, and
Mr. Blake
called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. White had the invocation.
Mr. Blake read
the Ethics Awareness & Conflict of Interest Reminder and Mr. Briggs recused
himself from Disciplinary Cases V08-014 and M08-007.
Mr. Blake asked
for public comment and there was none.
Visitors introduced themselves.
Mr. Harris
presented the minutes for the June 18, 2008 meeting. Mr. Briggs noted two corrections on Page
2. One under Paragraph two, first
sentence “too” should be changed to “took” and the second one Paragraph five
first sentence Mr. “Briggs” should be Mr. “White.” Mr. White noted one correction on Page 3
Paragraph 3. Mr. White does not believe he seconded his own motion. The staff was asked to determine who provided
the second to the motion. Mr. Briggs
made the motion to accept the minutes with the three corrections and Mr.
Andrews seconded. The motion
carried. Questions ensued regarding the
preparation of minutes and when the minutes are placed on the Board’s website. The staff review determined later that it was
Mr. Willoughby who seconded the motion.
Finance/Personnel:
Mr. Briggs presented the Boyce, Furr and Company 2007 Audit and yielded
the floor to Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris and
Mr. Blake had met previously with representatives from the audit company
earlier in the month. Mr. Harris
discussed the audit and responded to questions from the members. During the audit meeting Mr. Blake requested
a representative meet with Board staff quarterly prior to the yearly
audit. Budget includes the cost of this
service. Mr. White made the motion to
have a Boyce, Furr representative assist staff quarterly. Mr. McCree seconded and the motion carried.
Discussion
ensued regarding the Board bank and investment accounts. Finance will meet to discuss funds in the
accounts.
Mr. Lea made
the motion to accept the audit report and Mr. Andrews seconded. The motion carried.
Laws, Rules
& Legislation: Mr. Briggs yielded to Mr. Harris. The Board took a five-minute recess at this
time.
Upon
reconvening the meeting Mr. Harris presented a recap of the following Bills
that were ratified in the 2008 short session:
S1631, H1113, S1651, H2788.
Discussion ensued.
Mr. Harris next
presented the latest draft of the Licensed Activity Guide. Following some
changes, Mr. Briggs made the motion to adopt and publish this document. Mr. McCree seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake called for the vote. Mr. Andrews, Mr. Briggs, Mr. Lee, Mr. McCree,
Mr. White voted yes. Mr. Blake voted
no. The motion carried.
Mr. Harris
reviewed proposed Subchapter 34A.
Discussion ensued. Mr. White made
the motion to approve Subchapter 34A – Board Functions with corrections and
withdrawing 21 NCAC34A.0128. Mr. Lea
seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Harris
reviewed proposed Subchapter 34B.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Andrews
made the motion to approve Subchapter 34B – Funeral Service. Mr. White seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Harris
presented proposed Subchapter 34C. Mr.
Briggs made the motion to approve and Mr. White seconded. The motion carried.
Mr. Harris
reviewed proposed Subchapter 34D. Mr. Briggs
made the motion to approve Subchapter 34D – Preneed Funeral Contracts. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried.
At this time
there was a recess. The Board reconvened
and Mr. Blake recognized Mr. Lea.
Disciplinary
Committee: Mr. Lea presented the Disciplinary Committee
Report. Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs made the motion to approve the
report with the exception of V06-045.
Mr. White seconded and the motion carried. Mr. White made the motion to deny V06-045 and
recommend each establishment be penalized $1500 each. Discussion ensued. Mr. White withdrew his motion and made the
motion to have each establishment enter into a consent order paying $1500 civil
penalty and placing the one funeral establishment and the manager on two years
probation. Mr. McCree seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake called for the vote and the motion
carried.
Mr. Dirksen stated the 9:30 hearing had requested a first continuance and
had met the guidelines. Mr. White made
the motion to approve the continuance and Mr. Briggs seconded. Mr. Lea, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Briggs, Mr. White
and Mr. McCree voted yes. Mr. Blake
opposed the motion. The motion carried.
Mr. Dirksen stated the defendant for the 1:00 hearing had signed a
consent order and was present to address the board on the matter.
Mr. Dirksen asked the Board to delegate authority to staff to make any
clerical, grammar, formatting, procedural changes to the approved rules. Mr. White made that motion and Mr. Andrews
seconded. The motion carried.
There were no other committee matters.
Mr. Blake requested the current number of disciplinary cases. Mr. Dirksen responded the report was prepared
and will provide this at the recess.
There was no public comment. At
this time there was a recess.
When the meeting reconvened, Mr. Terence Rountree entered the meeting to
address the Board. The consent order was
presented to the Board for review.
Discussion ensued. There was a
page missing from the copies of the consent order and Mr. Blake recessed the
meeting briefly in order for the missing page to be retrieved and copied for
the Board members. The meeting was reconvened and discussion resumed.
Mr. White made the motion to accept the consent order and Mr. Lea
seconded. Mr. Lea, Mr. Blake, Mr.
Briggs, Mr. White, and Mr. McCree voted yes.
Mr. Andrews voted no. The motion
carried.
Discussion ensued regarding the hearing scheduled for Thursday at 9:00
a.m. Mr. White made the motion to
reschedule the hearing. Mr. Briggs
seconded. Mr. Lea, Mr. Briggs, Mr.
White, Mr. McCree, Mr. Andrews voted yes.
Mr. Blake voted no. The motion
carried.
Mr. Harris distributed the Attorney Report showing the current number of
disciplinary cases. Discussion ensued
with Mr. Blake asking Mr. Dirksen to advise the Board if there were resources
Mr. Dirksen could use to move the cases along.
Mr. Dirksen was asked to see if the defendant for the Thursday hearing
could attend the afternoon meeting. The
Board recessed.
Upon reconvening Mr. Dirksen stated the defendant had not left his residence
would not be available for an afternoon hearing. The Board allowed the continuance for an
August hearing.
J.T.
Willoughby III, Secretary