[Adopted 1-19-1988 by L.L. No. 2-1988]
Records are essential to the administration of local government.
They contain the information that keeps government programs functioning.
It is our intent that a records management program be established
which will assist officials in making decisions, administering programs
and providing administrative continuity with past operations. The
program would be intended to document delivery of services, show the
legal responsibilities of government and protect the legal rights
of citizens. It will contain information on taxation and on the management
and expenditure of funds. These records will also document the historical
document of government itself, the community and the people of the
Village of Monticello.
There shall be a records management program established under
the aegis of the Village Manager and headed by a records management
officer. The Village Clerk is designated as the records management
officer and will be responsible for administering the current and
archived public records in storage areas for the Village of Monticello
in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ARCHIVES
Those official records which have been determined by the
officer and Advisory Committee to have sufficient historical or other
value to warrant the continued preservation by the Village.
RECORDS
Official files, minutes and documents, books, papers, photographs,
sound recordings, microforms or any other materials, regardless of
physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law
or ordinance or in conjunction with the transaction of official Village
business.
RECORDS CENTER
An establishment maintained by the departments or records
management officer for the storage, servicing, security and processing
of records which must be preserved for varying periods of time and
need not be retained in office equipment or space.
RECORDS DISPOSITION
The removal by the Village, in accordance with approved records
control schedules, of records no longer necessary for the conduct
of business by such agency through removal methods which may include
the disposition of temporary records by destruction or donation or
the transfer of records to a central storage facility for temporary
or permanent storage of records determined to have historical or other
sufficient value warranting continued preservation and the transfer
of records from one Village agency to another Village agency.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training,
promotion and other managerial activities involved in records creation,
records maintenance and use and records disposition, including records
preservation, records disposal and the records center or other storage
facilities.
SERVICING
Making information in records available to any agency for
official use or to the public.
The records management officer shall have all the necessary
powers deemed appropriate by the Village Manager to carry out the
efficient administration, determination of value, use, preservation,
storage and disposition of the public records kept, filed or received
by the officers and departments of the Village of Monticello.
A. The records management officer shall continually survey and examine
public records to recommend their classification so as to determine
the most suitable method to be used for the maintaining, storing and
servicing of the following:
(1) Obsolete and unnecessary records according to the New York State
Retention and Disposition Schedules, thereby subject to disposition;
(2) Information containing administrative, legal, fiscal, research, historical
or educational value which warrants their permanent retention; or
(3) Records not subject to disposition according to state law.
B. The records management officer shall establish guidelines for proper
records management in any department of the Village government in
accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C. The records management officer shall report annually to the Village
Manager and the Board of Trustees on the powers and duties herein
mentioned, including but not limited to the development and progress
of programs to date and planned activities for subsequent years.
D. The records management officer shall operate a central records management
storage facility for storage, processing and servicing of all Village
records for all Village departments and agencies.
E. Additional requirements of the records management officer include,
but are not limited to:
(1) The development of a comprehensive records management program.
(2) The conduct of an initial survey and analysis of all records, to
be followed up annually with a report of records stored.
(3) The encouragement and coordination of the continuous legal destruction
of obsolete records through the adoption and use of the State Archives
Records Retention and Disposition Schedules.
(4) The development of a suitable retention period for records not covered
by the State Records Retention and Disposition Schedules.
(5) The assistance to each department for the establishment of a records
management system to support the overall Village records management
program.
(6) The setting up and overseeing of a center for the storage of inactive
records.
(7) The coordinating and carrying out or participating in the planning
for development of advanced records management systems and equipment.
(8) The preparation of special and annual reports for the Village Manager
and the Board of Trustees on records management program progress,
cost savings and cost avoidance problems and additional issues.
There shall be a Records Advisory Board designated to work closely
with and provide advice to the records management officer. The Board
shall consist of the Village Manager, the Village Historian, a Trustee
for the Village Board of Trustees selected by the Mayor, the Village
Treasurer and a department head. The Board shall meet periodically
and have the following duties:
A. To provide advice to the records management officer on the development
of the records management program.
B. To review the performance of the program on an ongoing basis and
propose changes and improvements.
C. To review retention periods proposed by the records management officer
for records not covered by the state archive schedules.
D. To provide advice on the appraisal of records for archival value
and to be the final sign-off entity as to what is or is not archival.
The records management officer shall maintain physical custody
and the official responsibility for all records. Department heads
shall retain constructive control and authority over all department
records.
No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by a
department of the Village of Monticello unless approval has been obtained
from the records management officer. No records shall be destroyed
or otherwise disposed of by the records management officer without
the express written consent of the department head having authority.
[Adopted 6-21-1999 by L.L. No. 5-1999]
Records shall be available for public inspection and copying
at the office of the Village Clerk, 2 Pleasant Street, Monticello,
New York 12701.
Requests for public access to records shall be accepted and
records produced during all hours the Village Clerk's office
is regularly open for business. These hours are 9:00 a.m. until 5:00
p.m.
A notice containing the title or name and business address of
the records access officers and appeals person or body and the location
where records can be seen or copied shall be posted in a conspicuous
location wherever records are kept and/or published in a local newspaper
of general circulation.