[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Potsdam 4-21-1981. Section 132-1 amended during codification; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II. Other amendments noted where applicable.]
A. 
The following named person is designated as records access officer for the Village of Potsdam, New York: the Village Clerk.
[Amended 1-9-1995]
B. 
The fiscal officer of the Village of Potsdam, New York, is the Village Treasurer, Civil Center, Park Street.
A. 
The Village of Potsdam, New York, records for public inspection under the law[1] located at the Civic Center, Park Street, Potsdam, and at the Police Station, Raymond Street, Potsdam.
[1]
Editor's Note: "Law" apparently refers to the Freedom of Information Law, Art. 6 of the Public Officers Law.
B. 
The copying of records will be done by village employees if the village copying facilities are available and operable at the time a request for copying is made. Copies made will be charged for according to the fee schedule outlined below in this chapter. Hand copying of records by the applicant will be allowed if the machine is unavailable or if the record is one which cannot be copied due to its size, shape or copying quality.
Records for public inspection under the law are available for inspection between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., each day, Monday through Friday, except official village holidays.
A. 
An application to inspect a village record must be made, in writing, on the form provided by the village. If approved by the records access officer, the record will be made available within five days.
B. 
If the record requested contains information which cannot be allowed to be inspected due to a personal or private nature, it will be necessary for it to be reviewed by the records access officer and those sections of the record removed prior to inspection. In this instance, an appointment will be arranged with the applicant for inspection at a later time.
C. 
Absolutely no records of the Village of Potsdam will be removed by the applicant from the inspection area designated by the records access officer, and all inspections will be supervised by that officer or another village employee so designated.
A. 
If access to inspect a village record is denied by a records access officer, he or she will do so in writing, and the applicant will have the right to appeal the denial to the Mayor, Civic Center, Potsdam, New York 13676; telephone: 315/265-7480.
B. 
Any person denied access to records may appeal within 30 days of a denial.
C. 
The time for deciding an appeal by the individual or body designated to hear appeals shall commence upon receipt of written appeal identifying:
(1) 
The date and location of a request for records.
(2) 
The records that were denied.
(3) 
The name and return address of the appellant.
D. 
The agency shall transmit to the Committee on Public Access to Records copies of all appeals upon receipt of an appeal. Such copies shall be addressed to the Committee on Public Access to Records, Department of State, 162 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12231.
E. 
The person or body designated to hear appeals shall inform the appellant and the Committee on Public Access to Records of its determination in writing within seven business days of receipt of an appeal. The determination shall be transmitted to the Committee on Public Access to Records in the same manner as set forth in Subsection D of this section.
F. 
A final denial of access to a requested record, as provided in Subsection E of this section, shall be subject to court review as provided for in Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
Except when a different fee is otherwise prescribed by law:
A. 
There shall be no fee charged for the following:
(1) 
Inspection of records.
(2) 
Search for records.
(3) 
Any certificate pursuant to this chapter.
B. 
An agency may provide copies of records without charging a fee.
C. 
An agency may charge a fee for copies of records provided that:
(1) 
The fee for copying records shall not exceed $0.25 per page for photocopies not exceeding nine by 14 inches. This section shall not be construed to mandate the raising of fees where agencies in the past have charged less than $0.05 for such copies.
(2) 
In agencies which do not have photocopying equipment, 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 C(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.