REGULAR BOARD
MEETING
MINUTES
March 11, 2009
The North Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly
scheduled Board Meeting at 9:00 a.m. on March 11, 2009 at the Board’s office,
Present:
Also Present: Paul
Harris, Executive Director; Stephen N. Dirksen, General Counsel; Fred Jordan
with the N. C. Eye Bank, Dorman Caudle with Carolina Donor Services, Herb
Reichlin with the Funeral Consumers Alliance, Pat Hayes with North Carolina
Funeral Directors Association, Pete Rubino, NC Safety Solutions, Kathy Gloden
with Allen & Pinnix,
In the absence of Mr. Andrews and Mr. Willoughby, Mr.
Parrott called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. and led the Pledge of
Allegiance. Mr. Briggs had the
invocation.
Mr. Parrott read the Ethics Awareness & Conflict of
Interest Reminder and no member recused themselves at this time.
At this time Ms. Gloden administered the Oath of Office to
Ms. Webber. Ms. Webber was then seated
and Ms. Gloden departed the meeting.
Members congratulated and welcomed Ms. Webber.
Mr. Harris stated the Statement of Economic Interest for Ms.
Webber had been received and there was no conflict of interest.
Mr. Parrott asked for public comment. There was none and the visitors in attendance
identified themselves.
Mr. Parrott presented
the February minutes. Mr. Briggs
stated there was nothing to show he had been administered the Oaths of Office
at the January meeting. Mr. Harris will
take care of this prior to the end of the meeting. Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the
minutes and Mr. Lea seconded. The motion
carried.
Exam Committee:
Mr. Parrott reported five applicants took laws and rules exam on
February 24, all for the first time. Two
failed and three passed. Staff has been
updating the laws and rules exam question bank with the questions as approved
at the February meeting. Those have been
sent to Castle so they can begin to develop the exam.
Pearson Vue will provide review material for the pathology
exam applicants. The Board needs to
confirm that the reviews will be limited to only those who have failed and to
only the questions they missed. There
will be a charge to the board for this and that amount is still being
discussed.
Mr. Lea made the motion to accept the report. Ms. Wiseman seconded and the motion carried.
Finance/Personnel:
Mr. Briggs presented the February financials. Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs made the motion to approve the
report. Mr. Blake seconded and the
motion carried.
Laws, Rules & Legislation: Mr. Briggs reported on three items. 1) The committee has started a study of the
requirements for preneed establishments to determine solvency and petition the
Board in order to drop the surety bond.
The committee intends to bring a report back to the Board in April. 2) The committee has discussed a licensee
request to introduce legislation requiring notice to consumers when a funeral
home is performing a preneed contract that was originally written at a location
formerly under the same ownership but was transferred when that location was
closed. The committee recommends the
Board not introduce legislation for this.
3) Committee recommends moving MBA rules from Title 4 to Title 21 and
changing the address in those rules to the Board address. This does not require rulemaking. Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept the
report. Mr. Lea seconded. Mr. Briggs, Mr. Parrott, Mr. Lea, Mr. McCree,
Ms. Wiseman and Ms. Webber voted yes.
Mr. Blake voted no. The motion
carried.
At this time Jack Nichols with Allen & Pinnix entered
the meeting. Mr. Blake made the motion
to go into closed session to consult with an attorney retained by the Board in
order to preserve the attorney-client privilege between the attorney and the
Board. Ms. Wiseman seconded and the
motion carried.
Mr. Briggs made the motion to return to open session and Mr.
Blake seconded and the Board voted unanimously to return to open session. Mr. Briggs then made the motion authorizing
staff and legal counsel to seek an injunction in the matter discussed in closed
session. Mr. Blake seconded and the
motion carried. Mr. Nichols departed the
meeting.
At this time
Preneed Committee:
Mr. Harris presented the report in Mr. Andrews’ absence. Mr. Harris stated he had discovered five of
Mr. Lisenbee’s preneed reports had not been entered on the database and given
to staff for processing dating in 2007.
There were no serious problems with any of the reports and he will send
a transmittal letter with each to explain the problem. This is for information only.
Disciplinary Committee: Mr. Lea stated there was one addendum to the
report and the addendum would be voted on first. Mr. Lea made the motion to accept the
addendum and Mr. Blake seconded. The
motion carried. Mr. Lea made the motion
to accept the report. Ms. Wiseman
seconded and the motion carried.
Traineeship Committee:
Mr. Blake stated staff has begun using the revised trainee letter and is
working on the revised application form to include the trainee supervisor
certification requirement and acknowledgement.
Mr. Harris stated the application would be ready for review at the April
meeting.
Clinics: Ms. Wiseman stated
staff has contacted a video conferencing business to provide an estimate for
broadcasting a clinic from a central location to two remote locations. Committee was asking for suggestions for
program content from Board members and if there were not suggestions, Committee
would decide. Mr. Blake suggested laws,
rules and preneed.
Other Committee Reports: There were none.
Attorney Report: Mr. Dirksen presented his
report. He stated the 1:00 p.m. hearing
during a pretrial teleconference with Larry Andrews, a decision had been made
to continue the case to prepare evidence.
The 2:00 p.m. hearing was settled.
Staff was requesting that the hearing set for 9:00 a.m. on Thursday be
continued due to lack of a quorum. Ms.
Wiseman made the motion to continue the hearing and Mr. Lea seconded. The motion carried. Mark Howell has submitted a counter proposal
for repayment to allow a $40,000 immediate payment and $1500 a month until
repaid. Discussion ensued. Mr. Blake made the motion to accept the
proposal after the $40,000 was received.
Mr. McCree seconded and the motion carried. Further discussion ensued.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Harris submitted the
Inspectors Monthly Status Reports for December.
New funeral service
licensees: Soo Ying Weatherspoon,
Senetra Knight, Glenda Elliott
New trainees: Adam Williamson, Sharon Burden, Derek Walker,
Robert Edwards Jr., Jamie Refenes, Walter Huntley, Nathaniel Hargett III, Brian
Greene
New Unaffiliated: Terry Johnson Funeral Service Licensee
Since the February 18 Board
Meeting sixteen reports have been filed.
New Establishments: Morgan
Funerals & Cremations,
At this time Mr. Lisenbee
responded to questions from the Board regarding his inspections.
Mr. Harris stated he had
interaction with the NCFDA, FCAT and General Assembly. He
reported that after Ms. Wiseman had taken the Ethics training she asked Mr.
Harris to contact the Ethics Commission regarding access to the facility and
the lack of an Ethics Commission staff person to certify those in
attendance. Mr. Harris has had
communication with the Ethics Commission regarding this. All Board members who have not filed a 2009
SEI form need to file by April 15 and Mr. Harris has copies of the form if
needed.
Mr. Harris met with the State
Auditor last week and will meeting with him again next week.
Mr. Harris reported on the
International Conference Funeral Service Examining Boards Williamsburg,
Virginia, conference that he and Mr. Andrews attended February 24th. Mr. Harris provided a report on the status of
bills pending in the legislature. Mr.
Harris reported on SB491 Expunge non-violent criminal records and will request
that the Bill be amended to enable the Board to have access to expunged
records.
Mr. Harris reported that Marcus
Willoughby was doing well. Mr.
Willoughby requested a count of current Mutual Burial Associations in
The Board audit by Boyce-Furr is
scheduled for April 21-23. Mr. Harris
made comments regarding the current economic conditions, Board disciplinary
actions, specifically, the deligence with preneed audits and any preneed funds
and contracts that cannot be accounted for.
Discussion ensued.
Mr. Parrott thanked Mr. Harris for
attending the ICFSEB and representing the Board.
New Business: Mr. Harris stated Lewis Mutual
Burial Association, Incorporated, Kernersville, has presented their Order of
Liquidation for approval. Mr. Briggs
made the motion to accept the Orders and Mr. Blake seconded. The motion carried.
Old Business: There was none.
Informational Items: Mr. Harris stated the new
Committee Assignment and Board member roster were included.
Mr. Harris informed the Board of
an article in Mortuary Management magazine regarding cremation authorizations
and accurately identifying remains prior to cremation.
Mr. Blake stated Mr. Guyette of
Donor Referral Services was back in the newspaper and the article stated there
were funeral homes involved and it should have been funeral home. Mr. Blake suggested staff should send a
response to the editor. Mr. Harris will
address this.
Public Comment: There was none
Mr. Harris suggested
a hearing only be considered for the last week in April. Mr. Blake would be able to sit but Mr. Lea
and Mr. Parrott would not since they were on the Disciplinary Committee at the
time the matters were considered. Mr.
Harris will consult with Mr. McDarris regarding a meeting date of Wednesday,
April 29th.
Mr. Dirksen stated
under his Attorney Report was a matter he had overlooked. Claims totaling $5000 had been received
regarding the Howell matter. Mr. Blake
made the motion to approve the payments.
Ms. Wiseman seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Blake discussed
funds missing from banks for preneed contracts.
Mr. Harris will have staff write a letter to the financial institutions
in
Mr. Harris may be
able to obtain a copy of the HPOA document related to a lawsuit involving a
Mr. Parrott called
for a recess at 10:40 until 11:00 to hear the licensee reinstatement
request. Mr. Lea departed the meeting.
The Board reconvened
at 11:00 a.m. Charles McDarris entered the meeting. Mr. Parrott recognized Mr. Dirksen for a
license reinstatement request from Terence Rountree, Sr. Mr. Dirksen stated Mr. Rountree’s written
request was dated and received on March 9th. Mr. Rountree was entitled to fifteen days
notice and would have to agree to waive the fifteen-day notice
requirement. Mr. Rountree, who was
representing himself, agreed to proceed.
Mr. Dirksen provided the Board copies of the Consent Order between the
Board and Mr. Rountree and a copy of Mr. Rountree’s written request. Mr. Dirksen then made a brief opening
statement. Mr. Parrott noted a
typographical error in Mr. Rountree’s letter and asked if Mr. Rountree wanted
to correct that error to which he also agreed.
Mr. Briggs asked Mr. Dirksen if there was any other evidence and to
summarize the terms of the consent order.
Board members then asked some follow up questions. Mr. Parrott recognized Mr. Rountree for a
statement regarding his request. Board
members asked Mr. Rountree questions to clarify information in the consent
order and concerning his activities since the surrender of his license. Mr. Briggs asked Mr. Dirksen to address the
Board’s discretion with this request.
Following Mr. Dirksen’s reply,Mr. Blake made the motion to enter closed
session for deliberation, Ms. Webber seconded and the Board voted unanimously to go into closed
session.
Upon motion by Mr.
Briggs and second by Ms. Webber, the Board voted unanimously to return to open
session. Ms. Wiseman moved to reinstate
the license of Mr. Rountree pending receipt of a new application, application
fees, proof of 2008 CEUs and three year period of probation. Mr. Blake seconded. Mr. Briggs advised Mr. Rountree to be mindful
of the laws and rules of the Board. The
motion carried. Mr. Rountree thanked the
Board and departed the meeting.
Mr. Dirksen presented
a request by the attorney representing Hester, Whitted & Daye regarding
wording in the final agency decision issued by the Board. Discussion ensued. Mr. McDarris recommended amending the final
agency decision to reflect the request and the Board’s position in the
matter. Ms. Wiseman then made the motion
to amend the final agency decision and Mr. Briggs second. At this time Mr. Parrott recused himself from
the vote. The motion carried.
Mr. Dirksen reported
during the 10:40 a.m. recess the office had received applications and documents
for two new Howell claims. Mr. Blake
made the motion to approve the payment of the claims and Ms. Wiseman
seconded. The motion carried.
Mr. McDarris is
available for the April 29 hearings.
Ms. Wiseman asked if
Grace & Mercy Transport Company was related to Grace & Mercy Funeral
Home. Mr. Harris responded they were two
separate organizations.
Mr. Harris provided
the Board copies of the minutes from January 15, 2009 per Mr. Briggs
request. Mr. Briggs made the motion to
accept the minutes. Mr. Blake seconded
and the motion carried.
The meeting was
adjourned at 12:10 p.m.
Larry
Andrews, President