As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
ARCHIVES
Those records which have been determined by the Town Clerk and the
Records Advisory Committee to be worthy of permanent preservation and special
administration because of the importance of information they contain for continuing
administrative, legal or fiscal purposes or for historical or other research.
DISPOSITION
The removal of records from town offices or from an inactive records
storage center and their subsequent disposal by one of the following methods:
destruction in accordance with approved records disposition schedules established
by the State of New York and the Town of Schodack; sale; gift; or other authorized
means; or transfer to the archives.
RECORDS
Any book, paper, map, photograph, microform or other information
storage device regardless of physical form of characteristics, made or received
pursuant to law or in conjunction with the transaction of official town business.
RECORDS CENTER
A central storage facility maintained by the Records Management Officer
for the efficient storage, reference servicing, security and processing of
inactive records pending their ultimate destruction or transfer to the archives.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
The process of systematic creation, organization, planning, maintenance,
use, promotion, record preservation and periodic legal disposition of records.
RECORDS RETENTION AND DISPOSITION SCHEDULE
A published listing, issued by the State Archives and Records Administration
or the State of New York Unified Court System, that indicates the legal minimum
retention periods for local government records.
RETENTION PERIOD
The minimum period of time which must elapse before a record is eligible
for disposition.
VITAL RECORDS
Those records that are essential to the continuing operation of the
town. They are the records that would be required to resume and continue the
operations of government after a major disaster, such as fire or flood, to
protect the legal and financial interests of the town and to preserve the
rights of the people.
There shall be a Records Advisory Board to work and provide advice to
the Town Clerk. The Board shall consist of five members, those being the Town
Supervisor or his/her designee, the Town Historian, the Town Attorney or his/her
designee, the Town Clerk or his/her designee and the Records Coordinator.
Appointments are to be made by the Town Board. In the event that no person
is filling the position of Records Coordinator, the Town Clerk will recommend
a person to serve on this Board. The Board shall meet periodically and have
the following duties:
A. Provide advice to the Town Clerk on the development of
the records management program.
B. Review the performance of the program on an ongoing basis
and propose changes and improvements.
C. Review retention periods proposed by the Town Clerk for
records not covered by the state schedules.
D. Provide advice on the appraisal of records for archival
value.
The custody of records shall be maintained under the guidelines established
by the RMO and adopted by the Town Board by resolution.
A. Records stored in the records center shall come under
the full custody of the RMO. The RMO will determine the method and design
of storage.
B. Records transferred to or acquired by the archives shall
be under the full custody of the archives, as directed by the RMO, rather
than the department which created or held them immediately prior to being
transferred to the archives.
(1) Records shall be transferred to the archives upon the
recommendation of the RMO and the approval of the Records Advisory Board.
(2) Records may be removed, temporarily or permanently, from
the archives at the request of the RMO subject to the approval of the Records
Advisory Board.
To comply with Article 6 of the Public Officers Law, the following format
will be followed:
A. All requests for information shall be in writing, reasonably
describing the record requested and made during regular business hours of
the Town of Schodack RMO.
B. Within five business days of the receipt of the written
request for a record reasonably described, the Schodack RMO shall make such
records available to the person requesting them, deny such request in writing
or furnish a written acknowledgment of the receipt of such request and the
approximate date when such request will be granted or denied.
C. Any person denied access to a record may appeal, within
30 days, in writing, such denial to the Town Board.
D. The Town Board is hereby designated as the appeal agency
for determination of denials and will proceed as follows:
(1) The Town Board shall, within 10 business days of the
receipt of an appeal, fully explain in writing to the person requesting the
record the reason for further denial, or the Town Board shall provide access
to the record sought.
(2) The Town Board shall forward to the Committee on Open
Government a copy of such appeal when received by the Town Board and shall
also forward to said committee the ensuing determination thereon.
The fees for copies of records shall not exceed the fees established
by the State of New York or the actual cost of reproduction of any other record,
unless otherwise prescribed by statute.