OFFICE OF CEMETERY OVERSIGHT
ADVISORY COUNCIL ON CEMETERY OPERATIONS
MINUTES
DATE: December 14, 2006
TIME: 10:15 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.
PLACE: Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, 500 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, 2nd Floor Conference Room
PRESENT:
David Goodman, Chair
George Piendak, Director
Patricia Fagan Tress, Investigator
Leila Whitley, Administrative Aide
Paulette Wirsching, Assistant Attorney General
Jay Cherry
Richard Cody
Susan Cohen
Erich March
Frank Markowski
Frank Porter
Sarah Rex
GUESTS PRESENT:
Nancy Herin, Funeral Consumers Alliance of Maryland & Environs
Tammi Prysiazny, Green Mount Cemetery
Joseph Sliwka, Commissioner, Occupational & Professional Licensing, DLLR
CALL TO ORDER:
Chair Goodman called the meeting to order at 10:15 a.m.
MINUTES:
By motion made by Frank Porter and seconded by Richard Cody, the Minutes to the November 15, 2006 meeting were accepted.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Chair Goodman distributed sign up sheets for volunteers to bring refreshments to the 2007 Advisory Council meetings and for volunteers from the Council to attend the State Board of Mortician’s Board meetings for the upcoming year. Discussion ensued regarding the type of refreshments which should be brought by each council member who signs up. The original concept was to bring coffee and donuts to the meetings, but at some point it evolved into lunch. Chair Goodman suggested that, in the interest of time, perhaps we should not have lunch, but simply bring coffee and a few snacks. He suggested the Council might try this for the next several meetings.
The schedule for the 2007 meetings was also discussed. The Advisory Council meetings are generally held on the fourth Thursday of every month. This presents a problem in May, the fourth Thursday is May 24th, which is the Thursday before the Memorial Day weekend and a religious holy day for the Chair. Chair Goodman feels that, separate from whether he attends, the 24th may be a problem for the cemeterians preparing for their facilities’ Memorial Day events. He recommended the May meeting be held on May 31, 2004.
In September, the fourth Thursday falls within the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Chair Goodman has requested that this meeting be scheduled for the third Thursday of that month, September 20, 2007.
The fourth Thursday of December, 2007 falls between Christmas and New Year’s Day and may also present a problem for Council members. Chair Goodman has suggested the December meeting be scheduled for Thursday, December 20, 2007. All proposed meeting dates are subject to change and each future date will be confirmed and advertised as the year progresses.
The Council’s inclement weather policy was also discussed. Traditionally, if Baltimore County schools are closed or are late starting, the Advisory Council meeting will be canceled. Of course, since the Council members are coming from different areas of the State, anyone having difficulty getting to any meeting because of inclement or dangerous weather conditions should call the Director or the Chairman. No one should risk injury in attempting to attend an Advisory Council meeting.
Parking passes for 2007 were distributed in each of the Council members’ folders.
George Piendak discussed the proposed sale of Dulaney Valley Memorial Park. Colliers Pinkard is expected to broker the sale of the Timonium cemetery. The asking price was not known at this time.
GUEST SPEAKER:
Chair Goodman introduced the guest speaker, Nancy Herin, a representative of FCAME (Funeral Consumers Alliance of Maryland and Environs). Ms. Herin and other members of her organization publish a newsletter regarding relevant issues in the death-care industry. FCAME is an educational and consumer group in Maryland and is part of a national organization, also called the Funeral Consumers’ Alliance. The major emphasis of the group is on funerals.
Ms. Herin shared with the Council the perils associated with pre-need funeral arrangements. Ms. Herin went to several funeral homes in the State in attempting to make pre-need funeral arrangements. Ms. Herin often encountered sales representatives who ignored her wishes and who were not responsive in providing general price lists. Ms. Herin wrote about her experience and published it in her organization’s newsletter. Voluntary contributions came from individuals who read the newsletter and support the organization. Ms. Herin informed the Council that her organization and the national group primarily focus on funeral homes. She stated that FCAME needs to learn more about the cemetery industry and looks forward to doing so in the future. Since she had never addressed the Board of Morticians, a council member offered to assist her in getting invited to address the group at one of their upcoming meetings.
ABANDONED CEMETERIES:
Last month, Chair Goodman asked the Director to put together a concept paper regarding abandoned cemeteries which was more expansive than his own outline. As a result of his request, Director Piendak and Assistant Attorney General Paulette Wirsching looked at similar legislation in various states and developed a draft concept paper which was disseminated to the Council members. In order to address the growing problem of abandoned cemeteries throughout Maryland, Chair Goodman advised the Council that three issues must first be addressed: 1) “abandoned” cemetery needs to be defined; 2) there must be a way to evaluate the scope of the problem; and 3) an infrastructure must be developed State-wide to ensure compliance in each county.
Discussion by Council members ensued. Several council members expressed concern over the Chair’s proposal for an additional $1.00 increase for the cost of obtaining certified copies of death certificates. The Council was concerned with the cost, the means of collection and the utilization of such a fee even if such a fee could be targeted for abandoned cemeteries. This additional fee could be burdensome for some consumers. Additionally, it is not a general practice to have one State agency collect fees for the use and benefit of another State Agency. Death certificates are issued by the State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, not the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, of which the Office of Cemetery Oversight is a part. Certified death certificates now cost $12.00 per copy. It was decided that the scope of the abandoned cemetery problem needs to be better defined. Discussion will continue regarding this matter in future meetings. Council members’ written comments will be collected by the Chair.
PERPETUAL CARE POLICY:
Cemeteries which are not currently regulated by the Office of Cemetery Oversight can fall through the perpetual care loophole. Consumers cannot be assured that an unregulated cemetery has an adequate perpetual care trust fund. Inadequate or non-existent perpetual care funds are the major cause of abandoned cemeteries in the State, especially when the older cemeteries fill up or become inactive. Current legislation should be reviewed to see what changes or additions might be made to address this problem. Due to time constraints, it was decided that this discussion should continue at next month’s meeting.
PRECONSTUCTION SALES OF MAUSOLEUMS:
Also due to time constraints, the discussion on preconstruction sales of mausoleums was postponed until the January 25, 2007 meeting. A council member who is also a member of the Maryland Free State Cemetery Association suggested that Maryland Free State expected to submit a preconstruction of mausoleums bill aimed at protecting consumers to the January session of the Maryland General Assembly.
SUNSET REVIEW:
Joseph Sliwka, Commissioner for Occupational and Professional Licensing, advised the Council that the Sunset Review legislation required to be submitted by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation has been submitted by the Secretary’s Office to the General Assembly for the Office of Cemetery Oversight. Last year’s bill passed the Senate with special funding. The House is still asking for general funding, and may, in fact, submit its own bill. If a bill is not enacted and signed by the Governor, the Office of Cemetery Oversight may get an amendment to ensure continuation of the Office for a single year, or not.
DISASTER PLANNING:
Chair Goodman distributed a Disaster Plan Survey which he plans to disseminate to the Responsible Parties of licensed cemeteries in the State. The purpose of the survey is to assist the Office of Cemetery Oversight and its Advisory Council in determining the need for a disaster plan policy in the various cemeteries it regulates. Numerous consultants specialize in this area of disaster preparedness and Chair Goodman hopes to obtain one of these consultants as guest speaker at a future meeting. After the crisis in New Orleans, the Federal Government is now requiring Louisiana cemeteries to keep duplicate records at an alternate location. With the information provided by this survey, Chair Goodman hopes to develop a “model” for all cemeteries within the State.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
Director Piendak provided the Advisory Council with several articles regarding the cemetery industry. The first article was from the Baltimore Business Journal and stated that the Baltimore Marketing Association will be honoring the March family (of the March Funeral Home and King Memorial Cemetery) with the Henry G. Parks, Jr. Award. The second article dealt with the return of a mummy identified in Cleveland, Ohio, to its rightful owner, the Anatomical Services Division of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The third article was from the New York Times and discussed Colma, California, and its 26 cemeteries. The fourth article was from the Baltimore Sun and dealt with tours of New Orleans cemeteries since Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
Recently, several consumers have called the Office of Cemetery Oversight attempting to place several bodies in a single grave. In those instances, consumers have called the Office to mediate on the consumers’ behalf. Consumers are attempting to place cremains in lots where someone is currently buried. In one case, a customer purchased preneed lots and vaults and is attempting to “trade” the vaults’ value for the placement of several cremains in a lot where someone is currently buried. The Office advises the consumer to review the cemeteries’ policy regarding the burial of more than one person in a lot. Every cemetery has and is required to make available to consumers copies of their rules and regulations. The Office of Cemetery Oversight will allow the cemeteries to adhere to their current policies.
The Office of Cemetery Oversight has had an increasing number of phone calls from a Latin-American family attempting to disinter a body from Forest Hills Cemetery to be placed in another cemetery in the District of Columbia. The Circuit Court for Prince George’s County has designated Carolyn Jacobi to assist families in this process. However, Ms. Jacobi has not responded adequately to this family’s request (according to the family). We have advised them to contact a local funeral director for assistance. The family is desirous of reburying the deceased infant from Forest Hills adjacent to her more recently deceased mother in D.C. and to finish the task prior to the Christmas holidays.
INVESTIGATOR’S REPORT:
Patricia Tress reported that the Office has increasingly received “complaints” from consumers which are not actual complaints. The subject matter often deals with a family feud over the cost or arrangements of a funeral for a relative. During one phone call, Ms. Tress was actually advised that the complainant would reluctantly take the matter up with his relative, but to do so would clearly upset the now deceased family member. The Office is reluctant to become too heavily involved in these family disagreements, and we refer the consumers to the appropriate source. The regulatory powers of the Office of Cemetery Oversight are limited in its ability to require civility and open communication between brothers and sisters or stepbrothers or stepchildren or between angry ex-wives and ex-husbands. Mediation may, from time-to-time, be somewhat helpful.
ADJOURNMENT
On motion of Frank Porter and seconded by Jay Cherry, the Council voted unanimously to adjourn at 1:05 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 25, 2007 at 10:00 a.m.
Approved:
___ With corrections
___ Without corrections
______
(Signature of Chairman) (Date)
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