[Adopted 9-7-1993 by L.L. No. 4-1993]
There shall be a records management program
established under the aegis of the Village Clerk's Department and
headed by the Village Clerk as Records Management Officer (RMO). The
officer will be responsible for administering the noncurrent and archival
public records and storage areas for the Village of Altamont in accordance
with local, state and federal laws and guidelines. The Village Clerk
shall have the option to appoint a designee to perform this function
with the approval of the Mayor.
The officer shall have all necessary powers
to carry out the efficient administration, determination of value,
use, preservation, storage and disposition of the noncurrent and archival
public records kept, filed or received by the offices and departments
of the Village of Altamont.
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 maintaining,
storing and servicing them under the following guidelines:
(1) Disposition. Records deemed obsolete and unnecessary
according to the New York State Records Retention and Disposition
Schedules are subject to disposition.
(2) Archival
retention. Records containing information with administrative, legal,
fiscal, research, historical or educational value which warrants their
permanent retention are subject to archival retention.
(3) Active
retention. Records not yet subject to disposition according to state
law are subject to active retention.
B. The officer shall report annually to the Mayor and
Board of Trustees on the powers and duties herein mentioned, including
but not limited to the cost/benefit ratio of programs effectuated
by the Department.
C. The officer shall establish a Village of Altamont
archives and perform the following functions:
(1) Advise and assist Village of Altamont departments
in reviewing and selecting material to be transferred to the Village
of Altamont archives for preservation.
(2) Continually survey and examine public records to determine
the most suitable methods to be used for the creating, maintaining,
storing, and servicing of archival materials.
(3) Establish and maintain an adequate repository for
the proper storage, conservation, processing, and servicing of archival
records.
(4) Promulgate rules governing public access to and use
of records in the archives, subject to the approval of the Records
Advisory Board.
(5) Develop a confidentiality policy for archival records
designated confidential, provided that such policy does not conflict
with any federal or state statutes.
(6) Provide information services to other Village of Altamont
offices.
(7) Collect archival materials which are not official
Village of Altamont records but which have associational value to
the Village of Altamont or a close relationship to the existing archival
collection. Such collecting shall be subject to archive space, staff,
and cost limitations and to the potential endangerment of such materials
if they are not collected by the archives.
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 Mayor or a Trustee as designated
by the Mayor, the Village Attorney, the local historian, the Village
Clerk, and interested citizens as appointed by the Mayor and approved
by the Board of Trustees. All members of the Board shall serve without
compensation relative to the records management program. The Board
shall meet periodically and have the following duties:
A. Provide advice to the Records Management Officer 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. Provide advice on the appraisal of records for archival
value and be the final sign-off entity as to what is or is not archival.
The Board of Trustees may take steps to recover
local government records which have been alienated from proper custody
and may, when necessary, institute actions of replevin.
No noncurrent or archival records shall be destroyed
or otherwise disposed of by a department of the Village of Altamont
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.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
ARCHIVES
Those official records which have been determined by the
officer and Advisory Board to have sufficient historical or other
value to warrant their continued preservation by the local government.
RECORDS
Any 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 connection with the transaction of official Village of Altamont
business.
RECORDS CENTER
An establishment maintained by the Village of Altamont primarily
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
A.
The removal by the Village of Altamont, 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:
(1)
The disposal of temporary records by destruction
or donation; or
(2)
The transfer of records to the archives for
temporary storage of inactive records and permanent storage of records
determined to have historical or other sufficient value warranting
continued preservation; and
B.
The transfer of records from one Village of
Altamont agency to any other Village of Altamont agency.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training,
promotion and other managerial use and records disposition, including
records preservation, records disposal and records centers or other
storage facilities.
SERVICING
Making information in records available to any Village of
Altamont agency for official use or to the public.