[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Newark Valley at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III).[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This chapter replaces former Chapter 124, Records, consisting of Art. I, Emergency Squad Records, adopted 4-6-1987 by Res. No. 22-87, and Art. II, Public Access, adopted 10-3-1994 by L.L. No. 1-1994.
A. 
The people's right to know the process of government decisionmaking and the documents and statistics leading to determinations can be thwarted by shrouding it with the cloak of secrecy or confidentiality.
B. 
This article provides information concerning the procedures by which records may be obtained from an agency defined by Subdivision 3 of § 86 of the Public Officers Law. No agency regulations shall be more restrictive than this article.
C. 
Agency 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 Board of Trustees ("Board") of the Village shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with the regulations herein and designates the Village Clerk-Treasurer as the principal records access officer who shall have the duty of coordinating the Village response to public requests for access to records. The designation of the Village Clerk-Treasurer 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.
B. 
The Village Clerk-Treasurer is responsible for assuring that Village personnel:
(1) 
Maintain an up-to-date subject matter list.
(2) 
Assist the requester in identifying requested records, if necessary.
(3) 
Upon locating the records, take one of the following actions:
(a) 
Make records available for inspection; or
(b) 
Deny access to the records in whole or in part and explain, in writing, the reasons therefor.
(4) 
Upon request for copies of records:
(a) 
Make a copy available upon payment or offer to pay established fees, if any; or
(b) 
Permit the requester to copy those records.
(5) 
Upon request, certify that a record is a true copy.
(6) 
Upon failure to locate records, certify that:
(a) 
The Village is not the custodian for such records; or
(b) 
The records of which the Village is a custodian cannot be found after diligent search.
The Board hereby designates the office of the Village Clerk-Treasurer as the location where public records shall be available for public inspection and copying.
The Village Clerk-Treasurer shall accept requests for public access to records and produce records during all hours during which the Clerk-Treasurer's office is regularly open for business.
A. 
The Village Clerk-Treasurer may require that a request be made in writing or may make records available upon oral request.
B. 
The Village Clerk-Treasurer shall respond to any request reasonably describing the record or records sought within five business days of receipt of the request.
C. 
A request shall reasonably describe the record or records sought. Whenever possible a person requesting records should supply information regarding dates, file designations or other information that may help to describe the records sought.
D. 
If the Village Clerk-Treasurer does not provide or deny access to the records sought within five business days of receipt of a request, the Village Clerk-Treasurer shall furnish a written acknowledgment of receipt of the request and a statement of the approximate date when the request will be granted or denied. If access to records is neither granted nor denied within 10 business days after the date of acknowledgment of receipt of a request, the request may be construed as a denial of access that may be appealed.
A. 
The Village Clerk-Treasurer shall maintain a reasonably detailed current list by subject matter of all records in his/her 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 not less than twice per year. The most recent update shall appear on the first page of the subject matter list.
A. 
The Board shall hear appeals or shall designate a person or body to hear appeals regarding denial of access to records under the Freedom of Information Law.
B. 
Denial of access shall be in writing stating the reason therefor and advising the person denied access of his or her right to appeal to the person or body established to hear appeals, and that person or body shall be identified by name, title, business address and business telephone number. The records access officer shall not be the appeals officer.
C. 
If the Board fails to respond to a request within five business days of receipt of a request as required in § 124-5 of this article, such failure shall be deemed a denial of access by the agency.
D. 
Any person denied access to records may appeal within 30 days of a denial.
E. 
The time for deciding an appeal by the Board or the person or body designated to hear appeals shall commence upon receipt of a written appeal identifying:
(1) 
The date and location of a request for records;
(2) 
The records that were denied; and
(3) 
The name and return address of the appellant.
F. 
The Board shall transmit to the Committee on Open Government copies of all appeals upon receipt of an appeal. Such copies shall be addressed to:
Committee on Open Government
Department of State
162 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12231
G. 
The Board or the person or body designated to hear appeals shall inform the appellant and the Committee on Open Government of its determination, in writing, within seven business days of receipt of an appeal. The determination shall be transmitted to the Committee on Open Government in the same manner as set forth in Subsection F of this section.
H. 
A final denial of access to a requested record, as provided for in Subsection G of this section, shall be subject to court review, as provided for in Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
Except when a different fee is otherwise prescribed by law:
A. 
There shall be no fee charged for the following:
(1) 
Inspection of records;
(2) 
Search for records; or
(3) 
Any certification pursuant to this article.
B. 
The Village Clerk-Treasurer may provide copies of records without charging a fee.
C. 
The Village Clerk-Treasurer may charge a fee for copies of records, provided that:
(1) 
The fee for copying records shall not exceed $0.25 per page for photocopies not exceeding nine inches by 14 inches.
(2) 
The fee for copies of records not covered by Subsection C(1) shall not exceed the actual reproduction cost, which is the average unit cost for copying a record, excluding fixed costs of the Village such as operator salaries.
Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1, issued pursuant to Article 57-A of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law and containing legal minimum retention periods for municipal government records, is hereby adopted for use by all municipal officers in disposing of municipal government records listed therein.
In accordance with Article 57-A:
A. 
Only those records will be disposed of that are described in Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1 after they have met the minimum retention period prescribed therein.
B. 
Only those records will be disposed of that do not have sufficient administrative, fiscal, legal or historical value to merit retention beyond established time periods.