[Adopted 3-13-1978 (Ch. 24, Art. I, of the 1983 Code)]
Records shall be available for public inspection and copying
at the Town Clerk's Office.
The records access officer shall accept requests for public
access to records and produce records during all hours he is regularly
open for business.
Except when a different fee is otherwise prescribed by law:
A. There shall be no fee charged for the following.
(3) Any certification pursuant to this article.
B. The records access officer will charge a fee for copies of records,
provided that:
(1) The fee for copying records shall not exceed the amount established in Chapter
130, Fees, per page for photocopies not exceeding nine inches by 14 inches.
[Amended 12-28-1983 by L.L. No. 2-1983]
(2) If the Town cannot photocopy the record, a transcript of the requested
records shall be made upon request. Such transcripts may either be
typed or handwritten. In such cases, the person requesting records
may be charged for the clerical time involved in making the transcript.
(3) The fee for copies of records not covered by Subsection
B(1) and
(2) of this section shall not exceed the actual reproduction cost, which is the average unit cost for copying a record, excluding fixed costs of the agency such as operator salaries.
The Town Clerk shall publicize by posting in a conspicuous location
and/or by publication in a local newspaper of general circulation:
A. The location where records shall be made available for inspection
and copying.
B. The name, title, business address and business telephone number of
the designated records access officer.
C. The right to appeal by any person denied access to a record and the
name and business address of the person or body to whom an appeal
is to be directed.
[Adopted 12-10-1990 by L.L. No. 7-1990 (Ch. 24, Art. II, of
the 1983 Code)]
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 local
government.
A. The records management officer shall 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 the following archival material:
(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 its permanent retention.
(3) Records not subject to disposition according to state law.
B. The officer shall establish guidelines for proper records management
in any department or agency of the local government in accordance
with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C. The officer shall 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. The officer shall operate a records management center for the storage,
processing and servicing of all noncurrent and archival records for
all local government departments and agencies.
E. The officer shall establish a local government archives and perform
the following functions:
(1) Advise and assist local government departments in reviewing and selecting
material to be transferred to the local 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 local government offices.
(7) Collect archival materials which are not official local government
records but which have associational value to the local government
or a close relationship to the existing archival collection. Such
collection 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 Town Board of the Town of Kingsbury. 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 archives' 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 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 local government 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 committee 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 local government business.
RECORDS CENTER
An establishment maintained by the local government 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 local government, 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.
(2)
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.
B.
The transfer of records from one local government agency to
any other local government 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 local government
agency for official use or to the public.