[[1]HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Washington 12-12-2002 by Res. No. 2002-20. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fees — See Ch. A137.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Ch. A138, TDR Plans, adopted 7-24-1997 by Res. No. 1997-9, was repealed 3-25-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-1.
The purpose of this resolution is to adopt a public record access policy that will govern all requests for access to the public records of the Township of Washington, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
A. 
Public records will be available for inspection and copying at the Township Municipal Building during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the exception of holidays.
B. 
Requests shall be in writing and directed to the Township Manager at the Township Municipal Building, 120 Barto Road, P.O. Box 52, Barto, Pennsylvania, 19504. Written requests shall be on a form provided by the Township and shall include the date of the request, the name and address of the requester, and a clear description of the records sought.
The following fees shall be due and paid by any person or entity requesting access to the Township's public records.
A. 
Paper copies will be $0.25 per page, per side. If mailing is requested, the cost of postage will be charged. Fax copies will be available at the cost of $0.25 per page, per side.
B. 
If a request is made for a copy of any record which cannot be reasonably duplicated on the facilities available at the offices of the Township, either due to the physical size or shape of the record or to the volume of records being requested, the Township shall have the requested records duplicated at a commercial copying service or similar location, and the person or entity requesting the record shall be responsible for the amount charged by such outside source, plus $25 for courier-conveyance service in connection with the Township's transportation of the records to and from such source. A failure by the person or entity to agree to pay such commercial copying charges, plus any courier-conveyor charge, upon notice by the Township, shall constitute a withdrawal or cancellation of the request for copies of such records.
C. 
If a copy is requested in a form other than a photocopy (such as a computer disk or other such nonpaper medium), the Township shall provide such copies if reasonably feasible, and provided the person or entity requesting the record has agreed to pay for the costs involved. The person or entity shall be responsible for the actual costs of the Township in producing such copy, plus $25 for courier-conveyance services of the Township, if any transportation services to a location away from the offices of the Township is required. A failure by the person or entity to agree to pay a nonpaper medium copying charge, plus any courier-conveyor charge, upon notice by the Township, shall constitute a withdrawal or cancellation of the request for copies of such records.
D. 
If a certification is requested, an additional charge of $2 will be added.
E. 
Payment is due at the time of delivery of the copies if the costs are expected not to exceed $100. If the Township expects that the fees of the copies being requested shall exceed $100, then the Township shall notify the person or entity requesting the copies, and the copies will not be made until the cost of the copies, as estimated by the Township, is paid in advance. Either a supplemental bill or a refund shall be made if actual copying costs are different than the Township's estimate.
F. 
There is no charge for only inspecting the public records. The fees are only for requests of copies of public records.
G. 
The fees charged for copies of public records and all other fees mentioned in this section may be changed by a resolution adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
A. 
The Township will make a good-faith effort to provide the requested public records as promptly as feasible. Township employees shall cooperate with those requesting to review and/or duplicate original Township documents while taking reasonable measures to protect Township documents from the possibility of theft and/or modification.
B. 
The Township Manager shall review all written requests for access to public records. As soon as possible, but not later than five business days after receiving a written request to access public records, the Township Manager shall respond to all such requests in a manner consistent with Act 100 of 2002, the Open Records Law.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 65 P.S. § 66.1 et seq.
A. 
If a written request is denied or deemed denied, the requester may file exceptions with the Board of Supervisors within 15 business days of the mailing date of the Township's denial. The exceptions shall state grounds on which the requester asserts that the record is a public record and shall address any grounds stated by the Township for denying the request.
B. 
The Board of Supervisors shall make a final determination on the exceptions within 30 days of the mailing date of the exceptions. The Board of Supervisors may hold a hearing on the issue during the 30 days. If the Board determines that the denial was correct, it must provide a written explanation to the requestor.
C. 
The requester may appeal a final determination to the Common Please Court or District Justice within 30 days of denial or final determination.