[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Mendon
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Definitions — See Ch. 5.
[Adopted 10-28-1974 (Ch. 160, Art. I, of the 1994 Code); amended in its entirety 10-15-2018 by L.L. No. 3-2018]
A.
The people’s
right to know the process of government decision-making and the documents
and statistics leading to determinations is basic to our society.
Access to such information should not be thwarted by shrouding it
with the cloak of secrecy of confidentiality.
B.
These regulations
provide information concerning the procedures by which records may
be obtained.
C.
Personnel
shall furnish to the public the information and records required by
the Freedom of Information Law, as well as records otherwise available
by law.
D.
Any conflicts
among laws governing public access to records shall be construed in
favor of the widest possible availability of public records.
A.
The Town
Board is responsible for ensuring compliance with the regulations
herein, and designates the Town Clerk and Town Supervisor as records
access officers.
B.
The records
access officer is responsible for ensuring appropriate agency response
to public requests for access to records. The designation of a records
access officer shall not be construed to prohibit officials who have
in the past been authorized to make records or information available
to the public from continuing to do so.
C.
The records
access officer shall ensure that agency personnel:
(1)
Maintain
an up-to-date subject matter list.
(2)
Assist
persons seeking records to identify the records sought, if necessary,
and when appropriate, indicate the manner in which the records are
filed, retrieved or generated to assist persons in reasonably describing
records.
(3)
Contact
persons seeking records when a request is voluminous or when locating
the records involves substantial effort, so that personnel may ascertain
the nature of records of primary interest and attempt to reasonably
reduce the volume of records requested.
(6)
Upon
request, certify that a record is a true copy; and
Records shall be available for public inspection and copying
at the Mendon Town Hall, 16 West Main Street, Honeoye Falls, NY 14472.
Requests for public access to records shall be accepted and
records produced during all hours regularly open for business. These
hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday; and 8:00
a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Friday.
A.
A written
request for records may be required, but oral requests may be accepted
when records are readily available.
B.
If records
are maintained on the internet, the requester shall be informed that
the records are accessible via the internet and in printed form either
on paper or other information storage medium.
C.
A response
shall be given within five business days of receipt of a request by:
(1)
Informing
a person requesting records that the request or portion of the request
does not reasonably describe the records sought, including direction,
to the extent possible, that would enable that person to request records
reasonably described;
(2)
Granting
or denying access to records in whole or in part;
(3)
Acknowledging
the receipt of a request in writing, including an approximate date
when the request will be granted or denied in whole or in part, which
shall be reasonable under the circumstances of the request and shall
not be more than 20 business days after the date of the acknowledgment,
or if it is known that circumstances prevent disclosure within 20
business days from the date of such acknowledgment, providing a statement
in writing indicating the reason for inability to grant the request
within that time and a date certain, within a reasonable period under
the circumstances of the request, when the request will be granted
in whole or in part; or
(4)
If
the receipt of request was acknowledged in writing and included an
approximate date when the request would be granted in whole or in
part within 20 business days of such acknowledgment, but circumstances
prevent disclosure within that time, providing a statement in writing
within 20 business days of such acknowledgment specifying the reason
for the inability to do so and a date certain, within a reasonable
period under the circumstances of the request, when the request will
be granted in whole or in part.
D.
In determining
a reasonable time for granting or denying a request under the circumstances
of a request, personnel shall consider the volume of a request, the
ease or difficulty in locating, retrieving or generating records,
the complexity of the request, the need to review records to determine
the extent to which they must be disclosed, the number of requests
received by the agency, and similar factors that bear on the ability
to grant access to records promptly and within a reasonable time.
E.
A failure
to comply with the time limitations described herein shall constitute
a denial of a request that may be appealed. Such failure shall include
situations in which an officer or employee:
(1)
Fails
to grant access to the records sought, deny access in writing or acknowledge
the receipt of a request within five business days of the receipt
of a request;
(2)
Acknowledges
the receipt of a request within five business days but fails to furnish
an approximate date when the request will be granted or denied in
whole or in part;
(3)
Furnishes
an acknowledgment of the receipt of a request within five business
days with an approximate date for granting or denying access in whole
or in part that is unreasonable under the circumstances of the request;
(4)
Fails
to respond to a request within a reasonable time after the approximate
date given or within 20 business days after the date of the acknowledgment
of the receipt of a request;
(5)
Determines
to grant a request in whole or in part within 20 business days of
the acknowledgment of the receipt of a request, but fails to do so,
unless the agency provides the reason for its inability to do so in
writing and a date certain within which the request will be granted
in whole or in part;
(6)
Does
not grant a request in whole or in part within 20 business days of
the acknowledgment of the receipt of a request and fails to provide
the reason in writing explaining the inability to do so and a date
certain by which the request will be granted in whole or in part;
or
(7)
Responds
to a request, stating that more than 20 business days are needed to
grant or deny the request in whole or in part and provides a date
certain within which that will be accomplished, but such date is unreasonable
under the circumstances of the request.
A.
The records
access officer shall maintain a reasonably detailed current list by
subject matter of all records in its possession, whether or not records
are available pursuant to Subdivision 2 of § 87 of the Public
Officers Law.
B.
The subject
matter list shall be sufficiently detailed to permit identification
of the category of the record sought.
C.
The subject
matter list shall be updated annually. The most recent update shall
appear on the first page of the subject matter list.
A.
Denial
of access to records shall be in writing stating the reason therefor
and advising the requester of the right to appeal to the Town Board.
B.
If requested records are not provided promptly, as required in § 200-5 of these regulations, such failure shall also be deemed a denial of access.
C.
The Town
Board shall determine appeals regarding denial of access to records
under the Freedom of Information Law.
D.
Any person
denied access to records may appeal within 30 days of a denial.
E.
The time
for deciding an appeal by the Town Board shall commence upon receipt
of a written appeal identifying:
F.
A failure
to determine an appeal within 10 business days of its receipt by granting
access to the records sought or fully explaining the reasons for further
denial in writing shall constitute a denial of the appeal.
G.
The Town
Board shall transmit to the Committee on Open Government copies of
all appeals upon receipt of appeals. Such copies shall be addressed
to:
Committee on Open Government
Department of State
One Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Avenue, Suite 650
Albany, NY 12231
B.
Copies
may be provided without charging a fee.
C.
Fees for
copies may be charged, provided that:
(1)
The
fee for copying records shall not exceed $0.25 per page for photocopies
not exceeding nine inches by 14 inches. This section shall not be
construed to mandate the raising of fees where agencies or municipalities
in the past have charged less than $0.25 for such copies;
(2)
The
fee for photocopies of records in excess of nine inches by 14 inches
shall not exceed the actual cost of reproduction; or
(3)
An
agency has the authority to redact portions of a paper record and
does so prior to disclosure of the record by making a photocopy from
which the proper redactions are made.
D.
The fee
an agency may charge for a copy of any other record is based on the
actual cost of reproduction and may include only the following:
(1)
An
amount equal to the hourly salary attributed to the lowest paid employee
who has the necessary skill required to prepare a copy of the requested
record, but only when more than two hours of the employee’s
time is necessary to do so; and
(2)
The
actual cost of the storage devices or media provided to the person
making the request in complying with such request; or
(3)
The
actual cost to the agency of engaging an outside professional service
to prepare a copy of a record, but only when an agency’s information
technology equipment is inadequate to prepare a copy, and if such
service is used to prepare the copy.
E.
When an agency has the ability to retrieve or extract a record or data maintained in a computer storage system with reasonable effort, or when doing so requires less employee time than engaging in manual retrieval or redactions from non-electronic records, the agency shall be required to retrieve or extract such record or data electronically. In such case, the agency may charge a fee in accordance with Subsection D(1) and (2) above.
F.
An agency
shall inform a person requesting a record of the estimated cost of
preparing a copy of the record if more than two hours of an agency
employee’s time is needed, or if it is necessary to retain an
outside professional service to prepare a copy of the record.
G.
An agency
may require that the fee for copying or reproducing a record be paid
in advance of the preparation of such copy.
H.
An agency
may waive a fee in whole or in part when making copies of records
available.
A notice containing the title or name and business address of
the records access officers and appeals body and the location where
records can be seen or copies shall be posted in a conspicuous location
wherever records are kept and/or published in a local newspaper of
general circulation.
[Adopted 1-9-1989 by L.L. No. 1-1989 (Ch. 160, Art. II,
of the 1994 Code)]
There shall be a Records Management Program established under
the aegis of the Town Board and headed by a Records Management Officer
(RMO). The Officer will be responsible for administering the noncurrent
and archival public records and storage areas for the Town of Mendon
in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
The Officer shall have all the necessary powers to carry out
the efficient administration, determination of value, use, preservation,
storage and disposition of the noncurrent and archival public records
kept, filed or received by the offices and departments of the Town
of Mendon.
A.
The Records Management Officer shall continually survey and examine
public records to recommend their classification so as to determine
the most suitable methods to be used for the maintaining, storing
and servicing of archival material:
(1)
Obsolete and unnecessary records according to New York State Records
and Disposition Schedules thereby subject to disposition;
(2)
Information containing administrative, legal, fiscal, research, historical
or educational value which warrant their permanent retention; or
(3)
Records not subject to disposition according to state law.
B.
The Officer shall establish guidelines for proper records management
in any department or agency of the Town of Mendon in accordance with
local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C.
The Officer shall report annually to the chief executive official
and the governing body on the powers and duties herein mentioned,
including but not limited to the cost-benefit ratio of programs effectuated
by the department.
D.
The Officer shall operate a Records Management Center for the storage,
processing and servicing of all noncurrent and archival records for
all Town of Mendon departments and agencies.
E.
The Officer shall establish a Town of Mendon Archives and perform
the following functions:
(1)
Advise and assist the Town of Mendon departments in reviewing and
selecting material to be transferred to the Town of Mendon Archives
for preservation.
(2)
Continually survey and examine public records to determine the most
suitable methods to be used for creating, maintaining, storing and
servicing of archival materials.
(3)
Establish and maintain an adequate repository for the proper storage,
conservation, processing and servicing of archival records.
(4)
Promulgate rules governing public access to and use of records in
the archives, subject to the approval of the Records Advisory Board.
(5)
Develop a confidentiality policy for archival records designated
confidential, provided that such policy does not conflict with any
federal or state statutes.
(6)
Provide information services to other Town of Mendon offices.
(7)
Collect archival materials which are not official Town of Mendon
records but which have associational value to the Town of Mendon or
a close relationship to the existing archival collection. Such collecting
shall be subject to archive space, staff and cost limitations and
to the potential endangerment of such materials if they are not collected
by the archives.
(8)
Develop a procedure whereby historically important records are to
be identified at the point of generation.
A.
There shall be a Records Advisory Board designated to work closely
with and provide advice to the Records Management Officer.
B.
The Board shall consist of no fewer than three and no more than seven
members.
C.
The Board shall meet periodically and have the following duties:
(1)
Provide advice to the Records Management Officer on the development
of the Records Management Program.
(2)
Review the performance of the program on an ongoing basis and propose
changes and improvements.
(3)
Review retention periods proposed by the Records Management Office
for records not covered by State Archives' Schedules.
(4)
Provide advice on the appraisal of records for archival value and
to be the final sign-off entity as to what is or is not archival.
A.
A Town of Mendon department is the legal custodian of its records
and shall retain custody of records deposited in the Records Center.
Records transferred to or acquired by the archives shall be under
the custody and control of the archives rather than the department
which created or held them immediately prior to being transferred
to the archives.
B.
Records shall be transferred to the archives upon the recommendation
of the RMO, with the approval of the head of the department which
has custody of the records and the approval of the Records Advisory
Board.
C.
Records may be permanently removed from the archives at the request
of the RMO or the head of the department which had custody of the
records immediately prior to the transfer of those records to the
archives, subject to the approval of the Records Advisory Board.
The Legal Department may take steps to recover local government
records which have been alienated from proper custody and may, when
necessary, institute actions of replevin.
No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by a
department of the Town of Mendon unless approval has been obtained
from the Records Management Officer. No records shall be destroyed
or otherwise disposed of by the Records Management Officer without
the express written consent of the department head having authority.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Those official records which have been determined by the
Officer and Advisory Committee to have sufficient historical or other
value to warrant their continued preservation by the local government.
Any documents, books, papers, photographs, sound recordings,
microforms or any other materials regardless of physical form or characteristics,
made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with
the transaction of official Town of Mendon business.
An establishment maintained by the Town of Mendon primarily
for the storage, servicing, security and processing of records which
must be preserved for varying periods of time and need not be retained
in office equipment or space.
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training,
promotion and other managerial use and records disposition, including
records preservation, records disposal and records centers or other
storage facilities.
Making information in records available to any Town of Mendon
agency for official use or to the public.