[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Oneonta 12-13-1995 by L.L. No.
11-1995. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Public access to records — See Ch. 69.
There shall be a records management program established under
the aegis of the Town of Oneonta 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 Oneonta in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
The RMO of the Town of Oneonta shall be the Town Clerk or his/her
appointed designee.
A.
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 Oneonta.
B.
The Records Management Officer shall:
(1)
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.
Classifications shall be as follows:
(a)
Obsolete and unnecessary records according to New York State
Records Retention and Disposition Schedules thereby subject to disposition;
(b)
Information containing administrative, legal, fiscal, research
historical or educational value which warrant their permanent retention;
or
(c)
Records not subject to disposition according to state law.
(2)
Establish guidelines for proper records management in any department
or agency of the Town of Oneonta in accordance with local, state and
federal laws and guidelines.
(3)
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.
(4)
Operate a Records Management Center for the storage, processing and
servicing of all noncurrent and archival records for all Town of Oneonta
departments and agencies.
(5)
Establish a Town of Oneonta Archives and perform the following functions:
(a)
Advise and assist Town of Oneonta Departments in reviewing and
selecting material to be transferred to the Town of Oneonta Archives
for preservation.
(b)
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.
(c)
Establish and maintain an adequate repository for the proper
storage, conservation, processing and servicing of archival records.
(d)
Promulgate rules governing public access to and use of records
in the archives, subject to the approval of the Records Advisory Board.
(e)
Develop a confidentiality policy for archival records designated
confidential, provided that such policy does not conflict with any
federal or state statutes.
(f)
Provide information services to other Town of Oneonta offices.
(g)
Collect archival materials which are not official Town of Oneonta
records but which have associational value to the Town of Oneonta
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.
(h)
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, a Town Board designee, the Town Attorney
and the Town Clerk. 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 Office
for records not covered by state archives' schedules.
D.
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.
A.
A Town of Oneonta 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 Legal Department 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 Oneonta 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 chapter, 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 Town of Oneonta business.
An establishment maintained by the Town of Oneonta 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 Oneonta, 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 transfer of records from one Town of Oneonta agency to any
other Town of Oneonta 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 Oneonta
agency for official use or to the public.
