[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of New Paltz during
codification 12-16-1987; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Meetings — See Ch. 24.
A.
The people's right to know the process of government
decisionmaking and the documents and statistics leading to 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 the Town of New Paltz, hereinafter the
"Town."
A.
The Town Clerk's office shall be responsible for ensuring
compliance with the regulations herein and shall designate one or more persons
as records access officer by name or by specific job title and business address,
who shall have the duty of coordinating response to public requests for access
to records. The designation of one or more records access officers shall not
be construed to prohibit officials who have in the past been authorized to
make records or information available to the public from continuing to do
so.
Records shall be available for public inspection and copying at the
Town Hall, 1 Veterans Drive, New Paltz, New York.
A.
All requests for records shall be made in writing.
B.
Requests for records shall be honored within five business
days of receipt of such request.
C.
Requests shall reasonably describe the record or records
sought. Whenever possible, the request shall specify dates, file designations
or other information that might help in describing the record sought.
D.
Should the Clerk fail to provide or deny access to the
records sought within five business days of the receipt of such request, the
Clerk shall furnish a written acknowledgment of receipt of the request and
a statement of the approximate date when the request will be granted or denied.
Failure of the Clerk to either grant or deny a request within 10 business
days after the date of acknowledgment of receipt of a request shall be construed
as a denial of access that may be appealed.
A.
The Clerk shall maintain a reasonably detailed current
list by subject matter of all records in his possession, whether or not records
are available pursuant to Subdivision 2 of § 87 of the Public Officers
Law.
B.
The subject matter list shall be sufficiently detailed
to permit identification of the category of the record sought.
C.
The subject matter list shall be updated not less than
twice per year. The most recent update shall appear on the first page of the
subject matter list.
B.
Denial of access shall be in writing, stating the reason
therefor and advising the person denied access of his or her right to appeal
to the person or body established to hear appeals, and that person or body
shall be identified by name, title, business address and business telephone
number. The records access officer shall not be the appeals officer.
C.
If an agency fails to respond to a request within five business days of receipt of a request as required in § 109-5D, such failure shall be deemed a denial of access by the agency.
D.
Any person denied access to records may appeal within
30 days of a denial.
F.
The Town Board 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:
Committee on Public Access to Records
Department of State
160 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12210
|
G.
The Town Board shall inform the appellant and the Committee on Public Access to Records of the 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 F of this section.
Except when a different fee is otherwise prescribed by law.
The Town shall publicize, by posting in a conspicuous location and/or
by publication in a local newspaper of general circulation:
A.
The location where 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.
C.
The right to appeal by any person denied access to a
record and the name and business address of the person or body to whom an
appeal is to be directed.