[Amended 12-5-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-6]
For the purposes of responding to requests for public records, the Town Clerk shall be the Town’s Public Information Officer. Anyone requesting to inspect or obtain copies of records maintained by the Town of Mount Airy is required to make the request upon the Town Clerk for records on a form to be updated from time to time and made available by the Town Clerk at Town Hall. The form shall require that the person making the request identify him or herself or organization, the address to where the documents to be produced in response may be mailed, delivered or otherwise made available or, if the request is made for production by means of an electronic medium, the format and means of production and/or any electronic mailing address to which the documents are to be sent, and shall provide notice of the types and manner of calculating fees as set forth in §
1-23 below for which the person making the request shall be responsible to pay as a condition precedent to receipt of the documents requested. No Town official or employee shall make any inquiry as to the reason or purpose for such a request. A request should be honored when made whenever practicable. In order not to disrupt Town business unduly, such requests may be held for a period not to exceed 30 days during which time the Town Clerk shall either provide the record involved or deny the request under the provisions of § 10-614 of the State Government Article of the Maryland Code. In the event that a request cannot be honored when made, the Town Clerk is to proceed as promptly as reasonable to confer with the applicant as to a convenient time to inspect or receive a copy of such records.
Requests to inspect or obtain minutes of Council
meetings or of any board or commission which have been approved and
accepted may be made orally and shall be honored when made whenever
practicable unless the pertinent minute book is temporarily unavailable.
Persons requesting to inspect minutes may be required to sign an acknowledgment
as to the fact of inspecting.
Requests to inspect or obtain copies of ordinances
may be made orally and shall be honored when made whenever practicable.
Meetings of the Town Council and various boards
and commissions are tape recorded. Persons desiring to listen to a
tape must do so at the Town Hall on Town equipment after scheduling
a mutually convenient time for such a purpose.
[Amended 12-5-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-6]
Generally. No charge will be made for the first two hours required
to search for and prepare a copy of a record for inspection. Fees
for photocopying or scanning for production by electronic medium are
$0.25 per page which shall be paid by the applicant as a condition
precedent to production of the documents requested. The applicant
shall be responsible for reimbursing the Town at cost for any CD-ROM,
flash drive, jump drive or any other mass storage device if production
of documents is requested by electronic means. For time spent by Town
staff, to include the Town Clerk, in excess of two hours, the applicant
shall pay a sum for such excess time based upon the hourly wage rate
of the lowest salaried office employee and shall in addition reimburse
the Town the actual amounts charged to the Town, if any, by the Town
Attorney in responding to the document request, to include the time
taken to redact from documents to be produced information exempt from
production pursuant to the State Government Article of the Maryland
Code, § 10-611 et seq. If the Town Clerk believes that more than
two hours will be required to search for and prepare the requested
record, then the Town Clerk shall promptly advise the applicant of
that fact with an estimate of anticipated costs which shall require
signature by the applicant agreeing to payment to the Town of the
estimated charges or the actual charges associated with responding
to the request, whichever shall be less, as a condition precedent
to receipt of the documents requested. The applicant may withdraw
the request without charge before signing the estimate. Upon execution
of the estimate by the applicant, the Town Clerk shall commence obtaining
and/or copying the documents to be produced. Charges are to be paid
in full as a condition precedent to receipt of the documents requested.
An applicant who withdraws his or her request after signing the estimate
required by this section shall be responsible for payment of the fees
authorized to be charged as set forth herein actually incurred by
the Town as of the Town’s receipt of the withdrawal or as reflected
in the estimate signed by the applicant, whichever shall be less,
even if the request is withdrawn by the applicant after signing the
estimate. An applicant making request for production shall be responsible
for payment of the charges authorized by this section associated with
responding to a prior request by the applicant or some other applicant
seeking production of the same documents if the Town has not been
compensated for the charges associated with such previous request.
An applicant may request a waiver of fees as provided for in state
law. If plats or other records larger than the Town’s copying
equipment are requested, the applicant may inspect the same, but will
have to make satisfactory arrangements for commercial reproduction
for paper copies.