A.
The City Clerk shall be the Records Management Officer
of the City of Cohoes. As RMO, the City Clerk shall be responsible for administering
the current, noncurrent, and archival public records and storage areas for
the City of Cohoes in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
B.
RECORDS
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
Any documents, books, papers, photographs, sound records, microforms,
electronic transmissions or any other materials, regardless of physical form
or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or in connection with
the transaction of official City of Cohoes business.
The Records Management Officer shall have all the necessary powers to
carry out the efficient administration, determination of value, use, preservation,
storage and disposition of the noncurrent and archival public records kept,
filed or received by the offices and departments of the City of Cohoes.
A.
The Records Management Officer shall continually survey
and examine public records to recommend their classification so as to determine
the most suitable methods to be used for the maintaining, storing and servicing
of archival material.
B.
The Records Management Officer shall establish guidelines
for proper records management in any department or agency of the City of Cohoes
in accordance with the local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C.
The Records Management Officer shall plan for the establishment
of and operate a city archives and records storage facility for the storage,
processing, and servicing of all noncurrent and archival records for all City
of Cohoes departments and agencies.
D.
The Records Management Officer shall oversee the following
procedures which shall be subject to the approval of the Board of Managers:
(1)
The review and selection of material to be transferred
to the city archives and records storage facility for preservation.
(2)
The survey and examination of public records to determine
the most suitable methods to be used for the creating, maintaining, storing
and servicing of archival materials.
(3)
Establishment and maintenance of an adequate repository
for the proper storage, conservation, processing and servicing of archival
records.
(4)
Establishment of rules governing public access to and
use of records in the archives.
The Board of Managers shall adopt a records management policy and procedures.
The Board of Managers shall act as a records advisory board and shall review
retention periods proposed by the Records Management Officer for records not
covered by state archives' schedules. The Board shall provide advice
on the appraisal of records for archival value and be the final sign-off entity
as to what is or is not archival.
The Records Management Officer shall maintain physical custody, as far
as practicable, and the official responsibility for all records. Department
heads shall retain constructive control and authority over all department
records.
Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1, issued pursuant to
Article 57-A of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, 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.
A.
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.
B.
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.
