[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Lumberland 12-27-1990 by L.L. No.
3-1990. Amendments noted where applicable.]
There shall be a records management program established under
the aegis of the Lumberland Town Board 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 Lumberland in accordance with local, state and federal laws and
guidelines.
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 Lumberland. 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:
(1)
Obsolete and unnecessary records according to New York State Records
Retention and Disposition Schedules, thereby subject to disposition;
or
(2)
Information containing administrative, legal, fiscal, research, historical
or educational value which warrant 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 Lumberland 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 Lumberland
departments and agencies.
E.
Establish a Town of Lumberland Archives and perform the following
functions:
(1)
Advise and assist Town of Lumberland departments in reviewing and
selecting material to be transferred to the Town of Lumberland 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, providing such policy does not conflict with any federal
or state statutes.
(6)
Provide information services to other Town of Lumberland offices.
(7)
Collect archival materials which are not official Town of Lumberland
records but which have associational value to the Town of Lumberland
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 program whereby historically important records are to be
identified at the point of the operation.
There shall be created a Records Advisory Board, designated
to work closely with and provide advice to the Records Management
Officer. 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 Lumberland 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 Lumberland 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
RMO and Advisory Board to have sufficient historical or other value
to warrant their continued preservation by 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 Lumberland
business. "Records" as used herein shall not be deemed to include
library materials, extra copies of documents created only for convenience
of reference, and stocks of publications.[1]
An establishment maintained by the Town of Lumberland 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 Lumberland, 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 Lumberland agency to
any other Town of Lumberland 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 Lumberland
agency for official use or to the public.
