REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
The
North Carolina Board of Funeral Service met for a duly scheduled Board Meeting
on
Present:
President
Mr.
Briggs gave the invocation.
At
this time the floor was opened to public comment. There was none at this time.
Since
Mr. Tyson was absent, Mr. Briggs stated the minutes had been previously mailed
and he asked if there was any changes or additions to
the minutes. Mr. Daniels made the motion
to accept the minutes and Mr. Manson seconded.
The motion carried and the minutes were approved.
At
this time Mr. Briggs read Governor Easley’s Executive Order #1. No one recused themselves at this time.
CE
Committee: Since Mr. Tyson was absent, there was no CE
report.
Disciplinary
Committee: Mr. Parrott stated the disciplinary cases had
been previously mailed. After review,
discussion ensued regarding case V04-070.
Mr. Lea made the motion to accept the Disciplinary Report and to exclude
case V04-070 for further discussion. Mr.
Daniels seconded and the motion carried.
Further discussion ensued regarding V04-070. After lengthy discussion, Mr. White made the
motion to approve V04-070. Mr. Daniels
seconded and the motion carried.
Clinics: Mr. Manson deferred the report to Mr.
Harris. The Radisson Hotel in
Finance
Committee: Mr. Daniels presented the February 2005
financials and made a motion to accept the report for information only. Mr. Parrott seconded and the motion carried.
Mr.
Daniels stated the Personnel report would be discussed at the close of the
meeting in Executive Session.
Preneed
Report: Mr. Andrews presented the Preneed Report and
then deferred the report to Mr. Harris.
Mr. Harris discussed licensees who had lost their preneed license due to
action by the Board and the transfer of those preneed contracts held by that
funeral home. It appears some of these
contracts are not being transferred as required and the staff was recommending
that the Board exercise its authority under the law and adopt a policy that 30
days after written notification by this Board if the contract has not been
transferred by the purchaser or consumer it will be transferred by the Board’s
authority to the geographically nearest preneed licensed establishment in good
standing with sensitivity to preference of race. Discussion ensued. Mr. Parrott made the motion to accept this
policy and Mr. Andrews seconded. Motion
carried.
Discussion
ensued regarding the examiners report.
Mr. Parrott made the motion to accept the Preneed Report. Mr. White seconded and the motion carried.
At
this point President Briggs asked Ms. Cochrane if she was able to determine who
was making the motions and seconds to which she replied she could hear them.
Crematory
Authority: Mr. Andrews reported the Authority was
recommending that and Attorney General opinion be requested regarding the use
of a health care power of attorney to convey authorization for disposal of a
person’s body. Mr. Andrews deferred the
report to Mr. Harris who reviewed Chapter 32A regarding the health care powers
of attorney. Discussion ensued. Mr. White made the motion to authorize Mr.
Harris to render an AG opinion. Mr. Lea
seconded and the motion carried.
Mr.
Andrews stated the Authority had also discussed and was requesting the Board
staff to develop a list of crematories with cremation units designed for
cremation of oversized human remains.
The Board will develop and maintain this list and will have it available
when a crematory requests this information.
Traineeship: Mr. Lea deferred the report to Mr.
Harris. Mr. Harris has contacted
Attorney’s
Report: Mr. Dirksen reported that the status of cases
pending was provided to the Board for their review. Continuance was granted to the respondent in
the Notice of Hearing that was sent on February 9 so he could retain an
attorney.
A
ten-minute recess was taken at
Executive
Director’s Report: The Business Impact Analysis report is
completed. Discussion ensued regarding
computer and office security. The
Inspector reports are submitted as requested at the February meeting. The three inspectors will be contacting Lloyd
Davis, the MBA examiner, to work with him to learn the inspection process for
the Burial Association. The MBA
financial statements are being reviewed and the assessment for 2005 will be set
after this review, which will be in plenty of time for the June mailing of that
assessment.
Jones
Funeral Service in
A
new reporting to the N. C. Department of Commerce regarding licensing is due
today and will be submitted. This report
is similar to the report that goes to the Attorney General and Secretary of
State.
The
cost to develop a pathology exam is submitted for review by Applied Measurement
Professionals, Inc. The Conference may
be able to develop questions for the Board to be included on our exam at a
reduced cost.
The
security fire system is now installed and in use.
The
deadline for bill filing is coming up.
The
questions for the laws and rules exam from the Board members have been
received. President Briggs and the Exam
Committee will assist the staff in developing the new Laws and Rules test that
will be implemented July 1. The new law
books have been mailed and are being distributed to the applicants with the
notice that this material will be tested on July 1.
The
preneed verification dot-matrix printer has become outdated and parts are not
available. A new
laser printed verification is under consideration since the new printer is
duplex capable. A folding machine can be
purchased for approximately $1000. This
will be ordered after the current supply of forms has been used.
The
Board is now under new regulations for criminal records and fingerprint card
management. The FBI notified the SBI
that they would be doing non-sanctioned audits of state agencies that used
these cards, which can result in sanctionable criminal assessments. The files, which contain fingerprint cards
and criminal background checks will be limited to
three staff members and the SBI have been notified. A written protocol will be developed for all
requests for files and contained information and all public record requests.
A
newsletter will be mailed in April.
Mr.
Daniels made the motion to give the staff the authority to request the opinion
from the Attorney General’s office regarding the Health Care Power of
Attorney. Mr. Manson seconded and the
motion carried.
New Business: Mr.
Harris stated that it was time for an annual review of the Board policy on
interest paid for recover fund claims.
The amount decided and voted on last year was 1%. Mr. Lea made the motion to continue the 1%
interest rate and to review the policy again in 2006. Mr. Daniels seconded and the motion carried.
At one time the Board had a policy on publication in
newspapers when disciplinary action was taken against a licensee after a
hearing and a completed consent order.
Mr. Lea made the motion to resume this policy and the publish this
information in the local weekly/daily newspaper any time a consent order is
signed or action is taken against a licensee and that his be retroaction to
January 1, 2005. Mr. Blake seconded. Discussion ensued. Mr. Briggs called for the vote and the motion
carried.
Mr. Harris submitted an amendment for temporary procedures
for Election to Crematory Authority. This rule would only be used this year
since the permanent adoption would in place for 2006. The report was deferred to Mr. Dirksen for
review. Mr. Parrott made the motion to
adopt the temporary rule 21 NCAC 34C.0101 regarding election procedures for the
Crematory Authority. Mr. Daniels
seconded and the motion carried.
Mr. Harris presented a Resolution of Appreciation of Service
for former Crematory Authority member Aaron J. Neumeyer. Mr. White made the motion and Mr. Lea
seconded. The motion carried.
There was a concern regarding how examination scores were
conveyed to the applicants. After
discussion in the Personnel Committee meeting, a Resolution for NC Board of
Funeral Service Policy on Notification to Applicants on Results of Examinations
was submitted for approval.
Mr. Daniels raised a concern about the approval for CE
programs transferred to the CE committee at the February meeting. Following
lengthy discussion Mr. Parrott moved that approval of CE programs be handled by
the staff. Mr. Lea seconded the motion. Further discussion occurred. Mr. Manson
voiced a concern on what the committee would be left to do. Mr. Harris agreed
and stated that program submissions that were questionable would be forwarded
to the committee for decision. Following more discussion Mr. Briggs called for
the vote. The motion passed with 7 votes aye and Mr.
White voting nay due to Mr. Tyson’s absence.
At this point a ten-minute recess was taken at
Mr. Harris passed out the Resolution for NC Board of Funeral
Service Policy on Notification to Applicants on Results of Examiners and
discussed the reasoning behind this resolution.
A concern had been raised because grades were held until all exams had
been graded and another concern because notice had not been given of test
scores. Mr. Harris stated this resolution would address those concerns. Mr. Daniels made the motion to adopt the
resolution and Mr. Lea seconded. Motion
carried.
Old
Business: There was none.
Information
items were presented for review.
Mr.
Briggs opened the floor for public comment.
There was none.
Mr.
Daniels made the motion to go into executive session to discuss the character
and fitness of an employee or to hear or investigate the complaint of a
grievance against an employee.
Upon
proper motion, the Board returned to open session.
The
meeting adjourned at
Jack
D. Briggs, President
Jody
C. Tyson, Secretary