[Adopted 7-2-1992 by L.L. No. 4-1992]
There shall be a records management program
established under the aegis of the Town of Wawayanda and headed by
a Records Management Officer (RMO). The Officer will be responsible
for administering the noncurrent and archival public records and storage
areas for the Town of Wawayanda in accordance with local, state and
federal laws and guidelines. The RMO of the Town of Wawayanda shall
be the Town Clerk or his/her appointed designee.
The Officer shall have all the 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 Town of Wawayanda. The Records Management Officer shall:
A.
Continually survey and examine public records to recommend
their classification so as to determine the most suitable methods
to be used for the maintaining, storing and servicing of archival
material, such as:
(1)
Obsolete and unnecessary records, according to New
York State Records 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.
Establish guidelines for proper records management
in any department or agency of the Town of Wawayanda in accordance
with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C.
Report annually to the chief executive official and
the governing body on the powers and duties herein mentioned, including
but not limited to the cost-benefit ratio of programs effectuated
by the department.
D.
Operate a records management center for the storage,
processing and servicing of all noncurrent and archival records for
all Town of Wawayanda departments and agencies.
E.
Establish a Town of Wawayanda archives and perform
the following functions:
(1)
Advise and assist Town of Wawayanda departments in
reviewing and selecting material to be transferred to the Town of
Wawayanda government 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 Town of Wawayanda
offices.
(7)
Collect archival materials which are not official
Town of Wawayanda records but which have associational value to the
Town of Wawayanda 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.
(8)
Develop a procedure whereby historically important
records are to be identified at the point of generation.
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 Supervisor, the Town Clerk
and a member of Historian's Department. 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.
Review retention periods proposed by the Records Management
Officer for records not covered by state archives' schedules.
D.
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.
A.
A Town of Wawayanda department is the legal custodian
of its records and shall retain custody of records deposited in the
records center. Records transferred to or acquired by the archives
shall be under the custody and control of the archives rather than
the department which created or held them immediately prior to being
transferred to the archives.
B.
Records shall be transferred to the archives upon
the recommendation of the RMO, with the approval of the head of the
department which has custody of the records and the approval of the
Records Advisory Board.
C.
Records may be permanently removed from the archives
at the request of the RMO or the head of the department which had
custody of the records immediately prior to the transfer of those
records to the archives, subject to the approval of the Records Advisory
Board.
The Town Attorney or the Legal Department, if
any, may take steps to recover local government records which have
been alienated from proper custody and may, when necessary, institute
actions of replevin.
No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed
of by a department of the Town of Wawayanda 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:
Those official records which have been determined by the
Officer and Advisory Committee to have sufficient historical or other
value to warrant their continued preservation by the local government.
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 (local government)
business.
An establishment maintained by the Town of Wawayanda 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.
The removal by the Town of Wawayanda, 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 disposal of temporary records by destruction
or donation; or
The transfer of records to the record center/archives
for temporary storage of inactive records and permanent storage of
records determined to have historical or other sufficient value warranting
continued preservation; and
The transfer of records from one Town of Wawayanda
agency to any other Town of Wawayanda agency.
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.
Making information in records available to any Town of Wawayanda
agency for official use or to the public.
