[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Metuchen 7-1-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-8. Amendments noted where applicable.]
It is the policy of the Borough of Metuchen that public records requested by members of the public be made available at the earliest reasonable time consistent with New Jersey state law. The office of the Borough Clerk shall be the conduit for all such requests.
A. 
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., the Borough of Metuchen, during regular business hours, will allow for the inspection of those records which are defined under the statute to be public records. The Borough reserves the right to preclude from inspection and/or duplication those records which are exempted as provided for in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.
B. 
All municipal agencies, employees and officers having possession of any public records subject to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. shall, upon request from the Borough Clerk, provide the Clerk with that record on or before the end of the business day following receipt of that request. If unable to comply as herein required then as soon thereafter as able, but within the prescribed deadline of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. Factors which may affect the Borough's ability to furnish requested information include the number of documents or pages requested, the accessibility of the documents and the nature of the document.
C. 
Generally, public records/documents in a form prepared for sale or distribution by the Borough Clerk or another Borough office shall be made available immediately upon completion of the request application and payment of the appropriate fees to that office.
D. 
The following guidelines are established for all municipal records/documents:
(1) 
The requestor shall complete the appropriate Borough form in writing, specifying the information requested and delivering it to the Borough Clerk.
(2) 
Requests for copies of pages and/or documents of no more than 50 pages will be made available within two business days of the request.
(3) 
Requests for copies of pages and/or documents of more than 50 pages will be made available within seven business days of the requests.
(4) 
All requests for copies from the same person or organization shall be treated as one for the purpose of the time guidelines stated above.
(5) 
Requests for copying on premises by use of the requestor's own equipment shall be considered by the Borough Clerk pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. Requestors will be notified by the Borough Clerk of the fee if the use of such equipment is authorized.
(6) 
Requests for information will be provided only in the form kept by the Borough. In no case will the Borough generate special reports or analyses to satisfy a requestor unless expressly authorized by the governing body to do so.
(7) 
If any of the foregoing guidelines cannot be met, the requestor shall be notified by the Borough Clerk of the time when the copies are expected to be available.
The Borough Clerk shall adopt a form for the use of any person who requests access to a government record. The form shall request name, address, phone number and a brief description of the government record sought. The form shall also include a space for the Borough Clerk to indicate which record will be made available, when the record will be available and the fees charged. The form shall also include the following:
A. 
Specific directions and procedures for requesting a record;
B. 
A statement as to whether prepayment of fees or a deposit is required;
C. 
The time period in which the Borough of Metuchen is required by P.L. 1963, c. 73 (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.) as amended and supplemented to make the record available;
D. 
A statement of the requestor' s right to challenge the decision by the public agency to deny access and the procedure for filing an appeal;
E. 
Space for the Borough Clerk or custodian of records to list reasons if a request is denied in whole or in part;
F. 
Space for the requestor to sign and date the form; and
G. 
Space for the Borough Clerk to sign and date the form if the request is fulfilled or denied.
[Amended 10-4-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-13]
Except as otherwise provided by law or regulation, the fee assessed for the duplication of a government record embodied in the form of printed matter shall be $0.05 per letter-size page or smaller, and $0.07 per legal-size page or larger. If a public agency can demonstrate that its actual costs for duplication of a government record exceed the foregoing rates, the public agency shall be permitted to charge the actual cost of duplicating the record. The actual cost of duplicating the record, upon which all copy fees are based, shall be the cost of materials and supplies used to make a copy of the record, but shall not include the cost of labor or other overhead expenses associated with making the copy except as provided. Access to electronic records and nonprinted materials shall be provided free of charge, but the public agency may charge for the actual costs of any needed supplies such as computer discs.