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Town of Southampton, NY
Suffolk County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (7) Index
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Southampton as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Code of Ethics — See Ch. 23.
[Adopted as Ch. 54 of the 1979 Code]
The following rules and regulations are hereby adopted with respect to public access to public records of the Town of Southampton:
A. 
Each agency and department of the Town shall follow the procedures and guidelines set forth in the rules and regulations of the Committee on Open Government and Article 6 of the Public Officers Law of the State of New York.
[Amended 2-8-1983; 7-10-1990 by L.L. No. 19-1990]
B. 
The head of each agency and department of the Town shall designate one or more persons as records access officers. In the absence of any such designation, the Town Clerk, Town Hall, Hampton Road, Southampton, New York, is hereby designated as the records access officer.
C. 
The Town Supervisor, Town Hall, Hampton Road, Southampton, New York, is hereby designated as the fiscal officer.
D. 
Public records of the Town shall be available for public inspection and copying at the Town Hall, Hampton Road, Southampton, New York, or at the location where they are kept.
E. 
Each agency and department of the Town shall accept requests for public access to records and produce public records during all hours regularly open for business, which hours are ordinarily 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. In the case of an agency or department which does not have regular business hours, such agency or department shall establish a written procedure by which a person may arrange an appointment to inspect and copy public records.
F. 
A request for access to public records may be oral or in writing, as specified by the records access officer. However, written requests shall not be required for records that have been customarily available without request. The records access officer shall have five business days to respond to requests for records.
[Amended 7-10-1990 by L.L. No. 19-1990]
G. 
The head of each agency and department of the Town shall designate himself or another person to hear appeals from denial of access to records. In the absence of any such designation, the Town Supervisor, Town Hall, Hampton Road, Southampton, New York, is hereby designated as the person to hear such appeals.
H. 
Denial of access by a records access officer shall be in writing, stating the reasons therefor and advising the requester of his right to appeal to the designated person. The designated person to hear appeals shall inform the requester of his decision, in writing, within 10 business days of receipt of the written appeal.
[Amended 7-10-1990 by L.L. No. 19-1990]
I. 
The fees for copies of records shall be as prescribed in § 87, Subdivision 1(b)iii, of the Public Officers Law of the State of New York, unless a different fee is prescribed by statute.
[Amended 2-8-1983]
J. 
In making records available to the public, access may be denied to and identifying details may be deleted from records and information which, if disclosed, would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
K. 
Each agency and department of the Town may adopt additional and more detailed rules and regulations relating to public access to records, provided that they are in conformity with the rules and regulations of the Committee on Open Government.
[Amended 7-10-1990 by L.L. No. 19-1990]
L. 
Each agency and department of the Town shall maintain and make available to the public a subject matter list of records in conformity with the rules and regulations of the Committee on Open Government.
[Amended 7-10-1990 by L.L. No. 19-1990]
M. 
Notice. Each agency and department of the Town shall post in a conspicuous location where its records are kept a notice containing at least the following information:
(1) 
The location where public records shall be made available for inspection and copying.
(2) 
The name, title, business address and business telephone number of the designated records access officer and fiscal officer.
(3) 
The right to appeal by any requester denied access and the name and business address of the person to whom an appeal is to be directed.
[Adopted 9-10-1985]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Art. III, Disclosure Affidavits, adopted 8-10-1999 by L.L. No. 20-1999 and amended in its entirety 7-22-2003 by L.L. No. 55-2003, which followed this article, was repealed 6-12-2007 by L.L. No. 31-2007. See now Ch. 23, Code of Ethics.
The Town Board and the members thereof shall continue to conduct its meetings pursuant to the provisions of the Open Meetings Law[1] as it existed prior to May 31, 1985, the effective date of Chapter 136 of the Laws of 1985.
[1]
Editor's Note: See § 100 et seq. of the Public Officers Law.
[Added 5-24-2022 by L.L. No. 14-2022]
A. 
Pursuant to Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2022, the Town Board of the Town of Southampton hereby authorizes members of the Town’s public bodies to participate in meetings using videoconferencing technology in a manner consistent with Public Officers Law § 103-a, as well as the Town’s videoconferencing procedures, as adopted by the Town Board.
B. 
Said videoconferencing procedures may be amended, and changed as needed, by Town Board resolution.
[Added 3-10-2009 by L.L. No. 6-2009; amended 7-26-2022 by L.L. No. 18-2022]
A. 
Upon request by any Town Board member, an interview shall be conducted in executive session for the filling of available positions on the Planning Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Conservation Board.
B. 
Notwithstanding the above, letters of interest and/or a candidate’s resume shall be circulated to all members of the Town Board prior to the introduction of any resolution authorizing an appointment.