[Adopted 8-3-1981 by Res. No. 170]
The following contracts, letters, maps, legal
documents, resolutions and ordinances shall be maintained, and certified
copies thereof be made available on demand:
B. Original ordinances and one copy thereof.
C. Original resolutions and one copy thereof.
D. Letters of transmittal: one copy.
E. Maps and surveys: original and at least one copy.
F. Legal documents: one copy.
G. Such other documents and records as are required by
these rules.
[Added 3-5-2002 by Ord. No. 195-2002]
The above requirements are minimum requirements,
and additional copies may be produced as required by the Supervisors
of the Township of Bern.
Such records shall be indexed, either through
numerical listings or through file drawers appropriately labeled by
the Township Secretary.
Preparation of reports on such matters as revenue
sharing and highway aid allocations shall be made only on the basis
of such records.
Contracts shall be executed only at the Municipal
Building of the Township of Bern; such documents being executed either
by a majority of the Board of Supervisors or as required by the Chairman
of the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Bern.
The following supplementary requirements be
maintained:
A. Transmittal letters requested by the Board of Supervisors
shall be made available to the Board before being released by the
Township Secretary.
B. All documents shall be in the office of the Secretary
of the Township of Bern by the next regular meeting after execution.
A possible exception to this would be ordinance, resolutions, and/or
reciprocal agreements which should be available as soon as practicable
after execution.
[Adopted 12-2-2008 by Ord. No. 252-2008]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
APPEALS OFFICER
The individual designated by the Pennsylvania Office of Open
Records to hear appeals from the denial of public records request
made to the Township.
CONFIDENTIAL PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
Commercial or financial information received by an agency
which is privileged or confidential, and the disclosure of which would
cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the person that
submitted the information.
FINANCIAL RECORDS
A.
Any account, voucher or contract dealing with
a receipt or disbursement of funds by the Township or the Township's
acquisition, use or disposal of services, supplies, materials, equipment
or property.
B.
The salary or other payments or expenses paid
to an officer or employee of the Township, including the name and
title of the officer or employee.
C.
A financial audit report performed on behalf
of the Township; however, this term does not include the work papers
underlying the audit.
HOMELAND SECURITY
Governmental actions designed to prevent, detect, respond
to and recover from acts of terrorism, major disasters and other emergencies,
weather or natural or man made. The term includes activities relating
to the following:
A.
Emergency preparedness and response, including
preparedness and response activities by volunteer medical, police,
emergency management, hazardous materials and fire personnel;
C.
Critical infrastructure protection;
E.
Ground, aviation and maritime transportation
security;
G.
Detection of nuclear and radiological materials;
and
H.
Research on next-generation securities technologies.
OFFICE OF OPEN RECORDS
The office established within the Department of Community
and Economic Development for the State of Pennsylvania which is charged
with the implementation and enforcement of the Right-To-Know Law.
PERSONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION
An individual's personal credit, charge or debit card information;
bank account information; bank, credit or financial statements; account
or pin numbers; and other information relating to an individual's
personal finances.
PRIVILEGE
Information protected by the attorney-work-product doctrine,
the attorney-client privilege, the doctor-patient privilege, the speech
and debate privilege or other privilege recognized by a court interpreting
the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
PUBLIC RECORD
A record, including a financial record of the Township, that is not exempt under §
131-15 of this article or is not exempt from being disclosed under any other federal or state law or regulation or judicial order or decree or is not protected by a privilege.
RECORD
Information, regardless of physical form or characteristics,
that documents a transaction or activity of an agency and that is
created, received or retained pursuant to law or in connection with
a transaction, business or activity of the Township. The term includes
a document, paper, letter, map, book, tape, photograph, film or sound
recording, information stored or maintained electronically and a data-processed
or image-processed document.
REQUESTOR
A person who is a legal resident of the United States and
requests a record pursuant to this article or the Pennsylvania Right-To-Know
Law.
RESPONSE
Access to a Pennsylvania record or the Township's written
notice to a requestor granting, denying or partially granting and
partially denying access to a record.
RIGHT-TO-KNOW OFFICER
The person designated by the Township to receive public records
requests submitted to the Township and otherwise complies with the
Pennsylvania Right-To-Know Law on behalf of the Township.
SOCIAL SERVICES
Cash assistance and other welfare benefits, medical, mental
and other healthcare services, drug and alcohol treatment, adoption
services, vocational services and training, occupational training,
education services, counseling services, workers' compensation services
and unemployment compensation services, foster-care services, services
for the elderly, services for individuals with disabilities and services
for victims of crimes and domestic assault.
TERRORIST ACT
A violent or life-threatening act that violates the criminal
laws of the United States, or any state, that appears to be intended
to:
A.
Intimidate or coerce a civilian population.
B.
Influence the policy by a government.
C.
Affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction,
assassination or kidnapping.
TRADE SECRET
A.
Information, including the formula, drawing,
pattern, and compilation, including a customer list, program, device,
method, technique or process, that:
(1)
Derives independent economic value, actual or
potential, but not being generally known to and not being readily
ascertainable by proper means by other persons who can obtain economic
value from its disclosure or use; and
(2)
Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable
under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.
B.
The term includes data processing software obtained
by an agency under a licensing agreement prohibiting disclosure.
The Township hereby appoints the Township Secretary
as the Right-To-Know Officer for the Township.
The Right-To-Know Officer shall:
A. Receive requests submitted to the Township.
B. Direct requests to the appropriate persons within
the Township or to the appropriate person from amongst the Township's
contractors, legal advisors and other such related personnel.
C. Track the Township's progress in responding to requests,
including the following:
(1) Put the date of receipt on a written request received
by the Township.
(2) Compute the day on which the five-day period for responding
to the request will expire and make a notation of that date on the
written request.
(3) Maintain an electronic or paper copy of a written
request, including all documents submitted with the request, until
the request has been fulfilled. If the request is denied, the written
request shall be maintained for 30 days or, if an appeal is filed,
until a final determination is issued under Section 1101(b) of the
Pennsylvania Right-To-Know Law.