The purpose of this article is to set forth the methods and procedures
governing the availability, location and nature of those records of the Town
of Greenfield, subject to the provisions of Article 6 of the Public Officers
Law, known as the "Freedom of Information Law."
Records shall be available for public inspection and copying at the
office of the Town Clerk, Town Hall, 7 Wilton Road, Greenfield Center, N.Y.
12833.
Requests for public access to records shall be accepted and records
produced during all hours the Town Clerk's Office is regularly open for business.
The Records Access Officer shall, in accordance with this article, make
available for public inspection and copying all records, except that the Records
Access Officer may deny access to records or portions thereof which are not
subject to disclosure in accordance with the provisions of Subdivision 2 of
Article 87 of the Public Officers Law or any other applicable state or federal
statute or unless the Records Access Officer determines that to grant the
application would adversely affect the public interest.
Records are essential to the administration of local government. They
contain the information that keeps government programs functioning. It is
the intent of this article 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 article, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
ARCHIVES
Those official records which have been determined by the Records
Management Officer and Advisory Committee to have sufficient historical or
other value to warrant the continued preservation by the Town.
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 Greenfield, 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.
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,
Department Head, Councilperson, Member of the community and Town employee.
Appointments are to be made by the Town Board. 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 the State Archives 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 of Greenfield until it has met the time limit on the States Records
Retention and Disposition Schedule and approval has been obtained from the
Records Management Officer. Following required consents and prior to actual
destruction, the Records Management Officer 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 Counsel may take steps to recover local government records
which have been alienated from proper custody and may, when necessary, institute
actions of replevin.