Board Meeting (1/15/2019)

Meeting Minutes and Notes

North Carolina Board for Licensing of Geologists

Minutes

January 15, 2019
Public Meeting Room, 1109 Dresser Court, Raleigh, NC

Welcome and Introductions

The meeting was called to order at 9:25 am by Board Chair, Bill Miller.  Dr. Miller read the conflict of interest statement.  Other Board members present included Rachel Kirkman, Dennis LaPoint, Robert Mensah-Biney, Steve Stadelman and Kenneth Taylor. Executive Director Barbara Geiger, Board Staff Member Jenna Miller, Board Counsel Mary Lucasse and Sarah Zambon were also present.  Dr. Taylor noted that, as the State Geologist and employee of the NC Department of Environmental Quality, he would refrain from participating in the deliberation or taking any action by the Board with respect to any matter involving an employee of the Department.

Approval of Minutes

Motion to approve the minutes of the November 13, 2018 and the December 13, 2018 meetings as amended was made by Kenneth Taylor, seconded by Rachel Kirkman and carried.

Financial Report

Dr. Taylor presented the second quarter financial reports and the 2016-17 and 2017-18 financial audits prepared by CPA Shelton Hawley.  Ms. Geiger discussed the current banking situation.  Following discussion by the Board, motion was made by Dennis LaPoint to move funds from the STIF account to a private bank and to open a checking account, to be used as an operating account, and to investigate potential investments.  The motion was seconded by Mr. Stadelman and carried unanimously.  Following review of the financial report and audit reports, motion was made by Dr. LaPoint and Mr. Stadelman to accept the reports.  The motion carried.

Dr. LaPoint encouraged the Board to consider expanding their outreach and law awareness, to include the geological community, the public and other occupational licensing boards.

Administrative Report

Ms. Geiger reported that there are currently 1224 active individual licenses and 236 active corporate licenses.  Of those 1224 individual licenses, 622 are NC residents, while 602 live in other states.  Two hundred and two individual licenses are on Inactive Status.

She reported that the ASBOG® examination on October 5, 2018 resulted in 23 out of 35 candidates passing Part One and 18 out of 21 candidates passing Part Two of the ASBOG® examination.  Seventeen individuals qualified for license and 19 GIT certificates were issued.  Five individuals took both parts of the examination on the same day.

Legal Report

Mary Lucasse gave the legislative update noting that the legislature had convened in early January, but that so far, there hasn’t been any notable activity regarding occupational licensing.

As part of the required annual Board training per NCGS §93B-5(g), Ms. Lucasse educated Board members on NC GS §143, Article 31and 31A – Tort Claims Act and the State Employees Act.

Ms. Lucasse informed the Board that this would be her last meeting and that Sarah Zambon would provide counsel to the Board.  Dr. Miller expressed the Board’s appreciation to Mary and welcomed Ms. Zambon.

ASBOG®

The ASBOG Council of Examiners (COE) meeting scheduled for April 4-6, 2019 in Nashua, NH was discussed.  Following discussion, motion was made by Dr. Mensah-Biney to send up to three people to the meeting.  Dr. LaPoint and Ms. Kirkman volunteered to attend the COE workshop. Ms. Geiger will contact Dr. Bill Harris to see if he would be interested in attending on behalf of the Board.  The motion was seconded by Mr. Stadelman and carried unanimously.

Continuing Education Committee Report

Motion to approve the report of the Continuing Education Committee was made by Dr. Miller and seconded by Dr. LaPoint.  The motion carried.

The current forms and guidelines used for making application for continuing education were discussed.  Ms. Kirkman volunteered to review the forms and to suggest edits.

Ms. Geiger reported that the audit of continuing education was almost complete and would be an agenda item for the next meeting of the Board.

Old Business

Newsletter

Publication of the newsletter to be sent via email to all licensees including inactive licensees was discussed.  Following discussion of topics and articles, it was determined that the newsletter would be published the first week of February.

Reunion of past Board members

The reunion of past members of the Board was discussed.  Ms. Geiger informed the Board that she had not heard anything further from Mr. Kolb regarding the matter.

The Board adjourned the meeting at 11:45 am and met former Board members for lunch.  The meeting resumed at 1:54 pm.

New Business

RSM/REC Training Opportunities

Training opportunities during RSM and REC meetings was discussed.  Dr. Miller will speak at the meeting in Asheville and Ms. Kirkman volunteered to cover the Raleigh meeting if she is available.  Ms. Geiger was asked to forward the email from Mr. Caulk to Ms. Kirkman.

Presentation on Licensure at NCSU – February 27, 2019

Dr. Taylor will make a presentation on licensure to geology students at NC State on February 27th.

SE GSA Conference – March 28-29, 2019 – Charleston, SC

The Southeast GSA Conference was discussed.  Dr. LaPoint made the motion that the Board support any Board member who can attend the conference.  Mr. Stadelman, Dr. Miller and Dr. Taylor will attend.  The motion was seconded by Dr. Mensah-Biney and carried.

The possibility of the Board providing scholarships for the SE GSA and other industry related conferences was discussed.  Dr. Miller asked Dr. LaPoint to put his thoughts and ideas regarding scholarships in writing.  Dr. Miller made the motion to form a Scholarship Committee of Dr. LaPoint, Dr. Taylor and Mr. Stadelman.  The motion was seconded by Ms. Kirkman and carried.

Ms. Zambon was asked to research provision of scholarships by the Board and to report back regarding any prohibitions and/or restrictions.

Working Session

Per NC GS § 143-318.11(6), motion was made by Dr. LaPoint to move into closed session.  The motion was seconded by Dr. Mensah-Biney and carried.

Dr. Taylor made the motion to approve the applications as acted upon by the Board.  The motion was seconded by Dr. LaPoint and carried unanimously.  Ms. Kirkman recused herself from the vote on the application of Ashley Martin.  Dr. Miller recused himself from the disciplinary matter discussed during closed session.

On motion by Dr. Taylor and second by Mr. Stadelman, the Board resumed the open session.

There being no further business, on motion and second the meeting was adjourned at 4:01 pm.

Respectfully submitted:

Kenneth Taylor, Secretary/Treasurer