OFFICE OF CEMETERY OVERSIGHT - Maryland Department of …



OFFICE OF CEMETERY OVERSIGHT

ADVISORY COUNCIL ON CEMETERY OPERATIONS

MINUTES

DATE: December 4, 2008

TIME: 10:10 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

PLACE: Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, 500 N. Calvert Street 3rd Floor Conference Room Baltimore, Maryland 21202,

PRESENT:

David Goodman, Chair

Patricia Tress, Acting Director/Investigator

Paulette Wirsching, Assistant Attorney General

Leila Whitley, Administrative Aide

Jay Cherry

Richard Cody

Susan Cohen

Erich March

Frank Porter

Sarah Rex

David Zinner

GUESTS:

Stanley Botts, Commissioner, DLLR-Occupational and Professional Licensing

Harley Felstein, Gardens of Remembrance

CALL TO ORDER:

Chair Goodman called the meeting to order at 10:15 a.m.

MINUTES:

By motion made by David Zinner and seconded by Frank Porter, the Minutes of the October 23, 2008 meeting were accepted with changes.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Chair Goodman discussed what will take place in case of inclement weather on any Advisory Council meeting day. Chair Goodman and the Director will discuss road conditions and the weather forecast prior to the meeting. If they determine the meeting should be cancelled, the Chairman and the Director will contact the Council members.

Chair Goodman announced the Advisory Council meeting for the months of November and December, 2009 will be combined and the Council will meet on December 3, 2009 at Choice Hotels in Silver Spring.

Mr. Cody announced the April 23, 2009 meeting for the Advisory Council is the same week the ICCFA will be meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada.

CEMETERY INVENTORY PROJECT

As mandated by the Sunset Review of the Office of Cemetery Oversight, a database containing more than 5,000 cemeteries was created. The cemeteries are identified as for-profit, non-profit, religious, veterans or government as specified in the Sunset Review. The inventory will be available to the public in the upcoming calendar year. Corrections and additions will be made to the inventory as information is received. This project will be on-going. The database will eventually be put in alphabetical order and in order by county. Ms. Wirsching stated the cemeteries description had to be looked at very carefully in order to determine each cemetery’s categorization. The definitions for each category are not defined. In time the database will be available to the public through the DLLR’s website.

It is difficult to calculate how many hours it took to obtain the inventory and input the information into the date base because much of the data entry took place in between doing other work and because staff outside of the Office of Cemetery Oversight contributed in the data entry. The Office of Cemetery Oversight will identify the religious cemeteries first and will send letters requesting contact information including cemetery location and person responsible for the cemetery.

Ms. Tress discussed the 18 recommendations in the letter from the General Assembly. Most have been completed, excluding the finalization of the Inventory database.

PERPETUAL CARE TRUST ACCOUNTS

There was discussion that any new cemetery except those that are excluded by the statute in the state of Maryland has to be a Perpetual Care cemetery and what the Office of Cemetery Oversight looks for when reviewing trust reports.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT:

In November, Ms. Tress, as Acting Director, mailed a letter to all responsible parties regarding licensing requirements. In a further attempt to streamline the licensing process, Ms. Tress enclosed a copy of COMAR to remind licensees of their obligations and responsibilities with regard to licensing. A similar mass mailing had been made in 2005. Ms. Tress updated the information to include several problem areas which she has identified over the past few months. Specifically, termination letters and sales counselor applications were not being signed by the responsible parties as required by law. The letter reminded licensees that incomplete or inaccurate applications would not be approved and would be returned to the appropriate cemetery.

INVESTIGATOR’S REPORT:

Ms. Tress described a meeting she recently had at a licensed cemetery with a complainant who had experienced a problem with her mother’s memorial. The memorial was damaged by the cemetery’s grounds crew and the replacement process was moving very slowly. By the time the OCO received the complaint, communication between both parties had stopped. Ms. Tress was able to mediate an amicable resolution. The complainant’s mother’s memorial was replaced prior to the holidays as she had hoped. Ms. Tress shared this story as a reminder to the Council of the reason why the OCO was created and continues to be needed.

NEW BUSINESS:

Mr. Goodman discussed putting on January 2009’s agenda the responsibilities of and licensing procedures for Responsible Parties.

There was some discussion by Ms. Rex and Mr. Cody about memorial vases that had been stolen. In Western Maryland, a suspect was convicted for theft of bronze vases. The defendant was sentenced to 10 years in jail and restitution in the amount of almost $100,000.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 500 N. Calvert Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.

ADJOURNMENT:

A motion to adjourn the meeting at 1:00 p.m. was made by Mr. Porter. The motion was seconded by Mr. Cherry.

Approved:

_____With corrections

_____Without corrections

___________________________ ____________________________

(Signature of Chairman) (Date)

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