REGULAR BOARD
MEETING
MINUTES
April 8, 2009
The North Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly
scheduled Board Meeting at 9:00 a.m. on April 8, 2009 at the Board’s office,
Present: Larry Andrews, President; J. T. Willoughby III,
Vice President;
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, and
Mr. Andrews called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. and led
the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Willoughby
had the invocation.
Mr. Andrew read the Ethics Awareness & Conflict of
Interest Reminder and no member recused themselves at this time. Mr. Blake and Mr. Andrews stated they would
recuse themselves from Disciplinary items at the proper time.
Mr. Andrews asked for public comment. There was none and the visitors in attendance
identified themselves.
Mr. Parrott presented the March minutes with one item of
correction on the first page, paragraph 9, first sentence should be February
instead of January. Mr. Willoughby the
motion to accept the minutes and Mr. Blake seconded. The motion carried.
Exam Committee:
Staff has reviewed the Castle laws and rules template for accuracy. Following a few minor corrections, the
template was approved and sent back to Castle.
Mr. Parrott reported twelve applicants took the exam in
March. Two were retakes. Ten passed, including the retakes and two
failed.
Mr. Lea made the motion to accept the report and Ms. Wiseman
seconded. The motion carried.
Finance/Personnel:
Mr. Briggs yielded the floor to Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris presented the report and
discussion several items. Mr. Briggs
made the motion to approve move the Melton-Riddle expense from Legal fees to
the Litigation reserve and move the Litigation reserve back to $100,000. Mr. Willoughby seconded and the motion
carried.
Laws, Rules & Legislation: Mr. Briggs reported the Committee had met by
teleconference and were presenting for review the draft of rules for
review. The preneed surety bond rule is
still under review by staff. Mr. Briggs
yielded the floor to Mr. Harris for discussion.
Mr. Briggs made the motion to direct staff to begin rule making for 21
NCAC 34B .0413, 21 NCAC 34B .0616, 21 NCAC 34B .0706, 21 NCAC 34C .0303 and 21
NCAC 34D .0302. Ms. Wiseman seconded and
the motion carried.
Preneed Committee:
Mr. Andrews presented the report.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Harris
stated he will develop a standard operating procedure to be used by the
inspectors.
Disciplinary Committee: Mr. Andrews stated he had appointed Mr.
Parrott as an alternate to the Disciplinary Committee should Mr. Blake or Mr. Lea
need to recuse themselves from a case. Mr. Lea stated there were two addenda to
the report. Mr. Blake recused himself
from V09-008. Mr. Briggs made the motion
to remove V09-008 for separate consideration and also to remove V08-014 for
separate consideration. At that time Mr. Briggs also recused himself from
V08-014. Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion carried. Mr. Briggs made the motion to approve
V09-002, V08-049 and M09-001. Mr.
Parrott seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Briggs recused himself from V09-012.
Mr. Willoughby made the motion to accept V09-012 and Mr. Lea
seconded. The motion carried and Mr.
Briggs did not participate in the vote.
Mr. Briggs made the motion to accept V09-008. Mr. Willoughby seconded and the motion
carried. Mr. Blake did not participate
in the vote. After review of the First
Addendum, Mr. Willoughby made the motion to accept V06-066 and M09-005. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried. Mr. Parrott made the motion to accept
V08-014. Ms. Wiseman seconded and the
motion carried. Mr. Briggs did not
participate in the vote. Mr. Lea
presented the Second Addendum to Consent Order.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Parrott
made the motion to accept the recommendation.
Ms. Webber seconded and the motion carried.
Traineeship Committee:
The Committee was recommending adoption of the form provided for
review. Questions ensued. Mr. Blake made the motion to adopt the
Trainee & Trainee Supervisor Verification form. Mr. Lea seconded and the motion carried. Mr. Blake thanked the Board for the support
on getting this form completed.
Clinics: Ms. Wiseman
reported the Committee had met by teleconference. The
Other Committee Reports: There were none.
Attorney Report: Mr. Dirksen presented his
report. The 1:00 afternoon hearing has
been closed. The case scheduled for 1:00
on Thursday would like to request a continuance and had met the criteria. David Reece entered the meeting and requested
the continuance since his attorney was scheduled for court for tomorrow. Mr. Willoughby made the motion to grant the
continuance and Mr. Lea seconded.
Discussion ensued. Mr. Andrews
called for the vote. The motion
carried. Mr. Parrott did not participate
in the vote. The case scheduled for 9:00
Thursday regarding the license reinstatement request still has not provided all
the information requested. Mr. Briggs
made the motion to delay the matter and Ms. Webber seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Andrews called for the vote and the
motion carried.
At this time Mr. Andrews called
for a five-minute recess.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Harris submitted the
Inspectors Monthly Status Reports for December.
Since the March 11 Board Meeting
thirty reports have been filed.
Ownership change--Melton Funeral Home, Sylva (formerly Melton-Riddle
Funeral Home); New Crematory—Cremation Concepts, LLC,
New funeral service licensees:
Steven Felton, Sandra DiBacco, Eric Wary II, James Zubko, Arlene Robinson,
Jonathan Brogden
New Embalmer licensee: Joann Marotta
New funeral director
licensees: Susie Combs
New trainees: Susan Mill-Thigpen, Walter Cranford jr., Joe
Lawing, Justin love, Richard Griffin, Randy Church, Christopher O’Bryant, Benjamin
Strickland Jr., Howard Sherrill, John Ronald Jr., Theresa Wright-Bryant
The representative from the State
Auditor’s office will meet with Mr. Harris on Thursday morning. Mr. Harris will report the results to the
Board at the next meeting.
Mr. Harris discussed several
legislative matters. Mr. Harris hand
carried a letter to Senator Atwater on March 26 regarding SB491 requesting the
Board be added to the list of agencies entitled to the confidential records
referred to in Subsection (i) of proposed G.S. 15A-150.
NC Emergency Management Mass
Fatality Planning will meet April 29 or 30 and Mr. Harris will attend. Emergency
Management agrees to review the Board’s pandemic flu plan. Mr. Harris is
working on the draft of a letter to the News & Observer as directed by the
Board regarding Mr. Guyette and a letter to
Staff may request discontinuance
of the Department of Labor Traineeship co-op.
Mr. Harris will have more information to present at the next
meeting.
The website has been updated with
online courses approved for continuing education credit. This includes
directions for licensees to get approval.
Boyce, Furr & Company will
conduct their audit April 21-23. Mr. Harris
presented a Letter of Understanding for approval by the Board. This letter would have a Board member
signature and a designated individual to oversee the professional
services. Ms. Wiseman made motion to
have Larry Andrews sign as the Board President and Mr. Harris to sign as the
individual to oversee the services. Mr.
Lea seconded and the motion carried. The
North Carolina Funeral Directors Association Spring Conference is in
Mr. Andrews stated he had spoken
to a member of the Senate not as a Board member but as a licensee regarding the
privilege license surcharge fee and was told it would probably be
approved. Mr. Andrews suggested the
licensees may want to get in touch with their representatives asking them not
to approve the fee change from $50 to $150. Mr. Blake
asked Mr. Harris if he had any additional information about the cemetery that
was requiring families to use their vaults.
Mr. Harris replied he heard this would be added to the current bills to
amend the Cemetery Act.
New Business: Mr. Harris introduced Pete
Rubino with North Carolina Safety Solutions for the presentation on Safety and
Security for the Board.
Mr. Harris presented a request
from an inactive licensee in another state for a reciprocal license. Staff was recommending that the license be
brought to an active status or take the
Mr. Harris stated that an
embalming establishment with a pending application since February with
unanswered questions. Staff was
recommending this applicant and staff appear at the May meeting to respond to
these questions. Mr. Parrott made the
motion to accept the recommendation. Mr.
Blake seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Dirksen has received checks
from Mr. Howell and a signed payment agreement.
Mr. Howell signed as an individual and Mr. Dirksen would like to defer
any action until he researches who should sign the agreement on behalf of the
corporation. One new claim and one
amended claim for Howell
have been received. Mr. Briggs made the motion to make payment on the
claims. Ms. Wiseman seconded and the
motion carried. Ms. Wiseman made the
motion to hold the Howell checks until the May 20 meeting and until Mr. Dirksen
researches the required signature. Mr.
Blake seconded and the motion carried.
Old Business: Mr. Harris included a copy of
the pending decision of the health care power or attorney suit in
Informational Items: Included was an article from The
Sylva Herald regarding the Melton-Riddle case.
The Ethics Commission deadline for filing the SEI forms is April 15th. An Annual Lobbying Newsletter from the
Ethics Commission is included.
Mr. Harris discussed the
Washington Post article regarding the allegation of improperly stored bodies
and allegations that a
Mr. Andrews thanked Mr. Parrott
for taking over as President in the absence of himself and Mr. Willoughby at
the March meeting. Mr. Willoughby
thanked the Board for their concern regarding the health of his son.
Mr. Harris stated there would be a
brief Traineeship Committee meeting following lunch.
Public Comment: There was none
Mr. Parrott made the
motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr.
Willoughby seconded and the meeting was adjourned at 11:40 a.m.
Larry
Andrews, President