The Township hereby designates Stephen Nowroski as the Township's Open Records Officer. The Open Records Officer may be reached at the Municipal Building located at 2491 Community Drive, Bath, PA 18014. The telephone number is 610-759-9449. The fax number is 610-759-9448. Mr. Nowroski's email address is manager@mooretownship.org. The Township hereby designates Jason Harhart as the Township's alternate Open Records Officer. The alternate Open Records Officer may be reached at the Municipal Building located at 2491 Community Drive, Bath, PA 18014. The telephone number is 610-759-9449. The fax number is 610-759-9448. Mr. Harhart's email address is iharhart@mooretownship.org.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Moore as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 9-3-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-7[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch. 1, Records, Art. I, Open Records Policy, adopted 12-16-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-10.
Public records shall be available for inspection, retrieval and duplication at the Township office during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), with the exception of Township designated holidays.
Requests shall be made in writing to the Township's Open Records Officer on a form provided by the Township. Requests submitted on the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records Standard Right-to-Know Request Form will also be accepted. Anonymous or verbal requests will not be considered.
Paper copies shall be $0.25 per page per side for black and white copies up to the first 1,000 pages and $0.20 beyond 1,000 pages and $0.50 for color copies. The certification of a record is $5 per record. Specialized documents, including but not limited to blueprints, color copies and nonstandard-sized documents, shall be charged the actual cost of production. If mailing is requested, the cost of postage will be charged. All fees must be paid before documents will be released. Prepayment is required if the total fees are estimated to exceed $100.
A.
The Open Records Officer shall make a good-faith effort to provide the requested public record(s) as promptly as possible and within the RTKL's five-business-day timeframe. If the Open Records Officer cannot do so within five business days, he/she is permitted to exercise a thirty-day extension upon notifying the requester. The Open Records Officer shall cooperate with those requesting records to review and/or duplicate original documents while taking reasonable measures to protect the original documents from the possibility of theft, damage and/or modification.
B.
If the request is denied, the Open Records Officer will send the requester a letter stating 1) a description of the record requested; 2) the specific reasons for the denial, including a citation of supporting legal authority; 3) contact information for the Open Records Officer; 4) the date of the response; 5) the procedure to appeal the denial.
A.
If a written request is denied, the requester has the right to file an appeal in writing to Executive Director, Office of Open Records, 333 Market St., 16th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17101.
B.
Appeals of criminal records shall be made to Stephen Baratta, the District Attorney of Northampton County. Mr. Baratta may be reached at the Northampton County Courthouse, 669 Washington Street, Easton, PA 18042. Mr. Baratta's telephone number is 610-559-3020.
A.
Appeals must be filed within 15 business days of the mailing date of the Township's response. Please note that a copy of the requester's original request and the Township's denial letter must be included when filing an appeal. The law requires an appeal to include reasons why the record is a public record and to address the reasons for denial that the Township stated in its denial letter.
B.
Visit the OOR's website at www.openrecords.pa.gov for additional information on filing an appeal.
In the event that any of the provisions of this article are declared unconstitutional, unlawful, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such declaration shall not affect the validity of the remainder of this article or of this article as a whole, but shall continue in full force and effect as though the unconstitutional, unlawful, or unenforceable provision had never been a part hereof,
All ordinances or parts of ordinances conflicting or inconsistent with the provisions of this article hereby adopted are hereby repealed.