Records are essential to the administration of local government.
They contain the information that keeps government programs functioning.
It is the intent of this chapter that a records management program
be established which will assist officials in making decisions, administering
programs and providing administrative continuity with past operations.
The program is intended to document the delivery of services, show
the legal responsibilities of government and protect the legal rights
of citizens. It will contain information on taxation and on the management
and expenditure of funds. These records will also document the historical
development of government itself, the community and the people of
the Town.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ARCHIVES
Those official records which have been determined by the
Records Management Officer and Records Advisory Board to have sufficient
historical or other value to warrant the continued preservation by
the Town.
[Amended 6-25-2020 by L.L. No. 3-2020]
RECORDS
Official files, minutes and documents, books, papers, photographs,
sound recordings, microforms or any other materials, regardless of
physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law
or in conjunction with the transaction of official Town business.
RECORDS CENTER
A central storage area maintained by the Records Management
Officer for the storage, servicing, security and processing of records
which must be preserved for varying periods of time.
RECORDS DISPOSITION
The removal by the Town of Macedon, in accordance with approved
records control schedules, of the records no longer necessary for
the conduct of business by such agency through removal methods, which
may include the disposition of temporary records by destruction or
donation, or the transfer of records to a central storage facility
for records with scheduled retention periods or permanent storage
of records determined to have historical or other sufficient value
warranting continued preservation or the transfer of records from
one Town agency to another Town agency.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training,
promotion and other managerial activities involved in records creation,
records maintenance and use and records disposition, including records
preservation, records disposal and the records center or other storage
facilities.
SERVICING
Making information in records available to any agency for
official use or to the public.
The Records Management Officer shall have all the necessary
powers to carry out the efficient administration, determination of
value, use, preservation, storage and disposition of the public records
kept, filed or received by the officers and departments of the Town.
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:
[Amended 6-25-2020 by L.L. No. 3-2020]
(1) Disposal: records deemed obsolete and unnecessary according to the
New York State Retention and Disposition Schedule are subject to disposal.
(2) Archival retention: information containing administrative, legal,
fiscal, research, historical or educational value which warrants their
permanent retention.
(3) Active retention: records not yet subject to disposition according
to state law.
B. The Records Management Officer shall establish guidelines for proper
records management in any department of the Town government in accordance
with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C. The Records Management Officer shall report annually to the governing
body on the powers and duties herein mentioned, including, but not
limited to, the development and progress of programs to date and planned
activities for subsequent years.
D. The Records Management Officer shall operate a central records management
storage facility for storage, processing and servicing of all Town
records for all Town departments and agencies.
E. Additional requirements of the Records Management Officer include,
but are not limited to:
(1) The development of a comprehensive records management program.
(2) The conduct of an initial survey and analysis of all records, to
be followed up annually with a report of records stored.
(3) The encouragement and coordination of the continuous legal destruction
of obsolete records through the adoption and use of the State Archives
Records Retention and Disposition Schedules.
(4) The development of suitable retention periods for records not covered
by the State Archives Records Retention and Disposition Schedules.
(Subsequently, the RMO must secure approval of such retention periods
from the New York State Commissioner of Education and gain adoption
from the Town Board of any proposed change before the retention period
takes effect.)
(5) The assistance to each department for the establishment of a records
management system to support the overall Town records management program;
encourage the continued efficient management of records within respective
departments.
(6) The setting up and overseeing of a center for the storage of inactive
records.
(7) Maintaining archival materials which are not official Town records
but which have historical value to the community or close relationship
to the existing archival collection. This 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) The coordinating and carrying out or participating in the planning
for development of advanced records management systems and equipment.
(9) The preparation of special and annual reports for the Town Board
on records management program progress, cost savings and cost avoidance
problems and additional issues.
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 five members, suggested but not limited to the following
areas: Town Historian, a department head and a Council person. 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 any changes in retention periods proposed by the Records Management
Officer for records not covered by State Archive 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.
No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by a
department of the Town until it has met the time limit on the State
Records Retention and Disposition Schedule or unless approved by 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. Following
required consents and prior to actual destruction, the RMO will allow
the Town Historian to review and/or remove any single document or
sampling of documents that are of historic value to the community.
The Town Attorney may take steps to recover local government
records which have been alienated from proper custody and may, when
necessary, institute actions of replevin. ("Replevin" is the recovery
by a person of goods claimed to be his, on his promise to test the
matter in court and give the goods up again if defeated.)
To comply with Article 6 of the Public Officers Law, the following
format will be followed:
A. All requests for information shall be in writing, reasonably describing
the record requested and made during regular business hours of the
Town of Macedon offices.
B. Within five business days of the receipt of the written request,
one of the following will occur:
(1) The record will be made available to the person requesting it.
(2) The request will be denied, in writing.
(3) A written acknowledgment of the receipt of the request and a statement
of the approximate date when such request shall be granted or denied
will be forwarded.
C. Any person denied access to a record may appeal, within 30 days,
in writing, such denial to the Town Board.
D. The Town Board is hereby designated as the appeal agency for determination
of denials and will proceed as follows:
(1) The Town Board shall, within 10 business days of the receipt of an
appeal, fully explain, in writing, to the person requesting the record
the reason for further denial, or the Town Board shall provide access
to the record sought.
(2) The Town Board shall forward to the Committee on Open Government
a copy of such appeal when received by the agency and shall also forward
to said committee the ensuing determination thereon.
E. A set fee will be charged per photocopy of a record. Such charges
will be established by resolution of the Town Board.