[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Massena
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 1-6-1976 by L.L. No. 1-1976]
This chapter shall be known as the "Freedom of Information Act of the
Village of Massena."
A.
The peoples' right to know the process of government
decisionmaking and the documents and statistics leading to such determinations
is basic to our society. Access to such information should not be thwarted
by shrouding it with the cloak of secrecy or confidentiality.
B.
This chapter provides information concerning the procedures
by which records may be obtained from agencies and municipalities. No Village
regulation shall be more restrictive than this chapter.
C.
Village personnel shall furnish to the public the information
and records required by the Freedom of Information Law and those records which
were furnished to the public prior to its enactment.
D.
Any conflicts among laws governing public access to records
shall be construed in favor of the widest possible availability of public
records.
A.
The Village Board of Trustees shall be responsible for
ensuring compliance with the regulations herein, and shall designate the Village
Clerk as the records access officer. The records access officer shall have
the duty of coordinating Village response to public requests for access to
records. However, the public shall not be denied access to records by Village
personnel who have in the past been authorized to make records or information
available.
A.
The Village Board of Trustees shall designate the Village
Treasurer as the fiscal officer. He shall respond to requests for an itemized
record setting forth the name, address, title and salary of every officer
or employee of the Village.
B.
The fiscal officer shall make the payroll items listed
above available to any person, including bona fide members of the news media
as required under Public Officers Law § 87, Subdivision 3(b).
[Amended 9-4-2001 by L.L. No. 2-2001]
The Village hereby designates the Town Hall as the location where records
shall be available for public inspection and copying.
The Village shall accept requests for public access to records and produce
records during all hours that the Town Hall is regularly open for business.
Those Village records to which access may be had and those Village records
to which access may be denied shall be governed by the provisions of Article
6 of the Public Officers Law of the State of New York (Freedom of Information
Law).
A.
Where a request for records is required, such request
must be in writing. However, written request shall not be required for records
that have customarily been available without written request.
B.
Time limit for response to request.
(1)
Village personnel shall respond promptly to a request
for records. Except under extraordinary circumstances, this response shall
be made no more than five working days after receipt of the request by the
records access officer.
(2)
If for any reason more than five days is required to
produce records, the Village official shall acknowledge receipt of the request
within five working days after the request is received. The acknowledgment
should include a brief explanation of the reason for delay and an estimate
of the date production or denial will be forthcoming.
C.
List of available records.
(1)
Each department, agency, board or commission of the Village
shall maintain and make available for public inspection and copying a current
list, by subject matter, of all records produced, filed or first kept or promulgated
after September 1, 1974. The list shall be sufficiently detailed to permit
the requester to identify the file category of the records sought.
(2)
The subject matter list shall be updated periodically
and the date of the most recent updating shall appear on the first page. The
updating of the subject matter list shall not be less than semiannual.
D.
So that Village personnel can locate records within a
reasonable period of time, a request for access to records should be sufficiently
detailed to identify the records. Where possible, the requester should supply
information regarding dates, titles, file designations or other information
which may help identify the records.
E.
A request for any or all records falling within a specific
category shall conform to the standard that records be identifiable.
F.
No records may be removed by the requester from the office
where the record is located without the permission of the records access officer.
A.
The Village Board of Trustees shall hear appeals for
denial of access to records under the Freedom of Information Law.
B.
Denial of access shall be in writing stating the reason
therefor and advising the requester of his right to appeal to the Board of
Trustees.
C.
If the Village fails to provide requested records promptly, as required in § 224-8B of this chapter, such failure shall be deemed a denial of access by the agency or municipality.
E.
The Village Board of Trustees shall inform the requester
of its decision, in writing, within 10 business days of receipt of an appeal.
[Amended 10-2-2007 by L.L. No. 2-2007]
Except where fees or exemptions from fees have been established by law,
rule or regulation prior to September 1, 1974:
B.
The Village 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 8 1/2 inches by 14 inches. This section
shall not be construed to mandate the raising of fees where the Village in
the past has charged less than $0.25 for such copies.
The Village shall publicize, by posting in a conspicuous location wherever
records are kept:
A.
The location where public records shall be made available
for inspection and copying.
B.
The name, title, business address and business telephone
number of the designated records access officer and fiscal officer.
C.
The right to appeal by any requester denied access to
a record for whatever reason and the name and address of the person or persons
or body to whom an appeal is to be directed.
A.
This chapter shall be binding upon all elected officers,
appointed officers, employees or agency members of the Village of Massena.
B.
The words "Village official" and "Village personnel"
as used in this chapter shall include elected officers, appointed officers,
employees or agency members of the Village, as defined above.
C.
Notwithstanding any other inconsistent provision of this
chapter, the Police Department of the Village of Massena shall have its own
records access officer who shall be designated by the Chief of Police, and
all Police Department records shall be made available at Police Headquarters,
during all hours that the Police Department Records Division is regularly
open for business, for public inspection and copying. The maximum fee for
copying any such Police Department records shall be $2 per report, regardless
of length.
[Adopted 9-4-2001 by L.L. No. 2-2001]
A.
Adoption of schedule. Records Retention and Disposition
Schedule MU-1, issued pursuant to Article 57-A of the Arts and Cultural Affairs
Law, and containing legal minimum retention periods for municipal government
records, is hereby adopted for use by all municipal officers in disposing
of municipal government records listed therein.
B.
Disposal of records. In accordance with Article 57-A:
(1)
Only those records will be disposed of that are described
in Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1 after they have met the
minimum retention period prescribed therein.
(2)
Only those records will be disposed of that do not have
sufficient administrative, fiscal, legal or historical value to merit retention
beyond established time periods.
