[[1]HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the
Township of Washington 12-12-2002 by Res. No. 2002-20. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fees — See Ch. A137.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Ch. A138, TDR Plans, adopted 7-24-1997
by Res. No. 1997-9, was repealed 3-25-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-1.
The purpose of this resolution is to adopt a public record access policy
that will govern all requests for access to the public records of the Township
of Washington, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
A.
Public records will be available for inspection and copying at
the Township Municipal Building during normal business hours, Monday through
Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the exception of holidays.
B.
Requests shall be in writing and directed to the Township Manager
at the Township Municipal Building, 120 Barto Road, P.O. Box 52, Barto, Pennsylvania,
19504. Written requests shall be on a form provided by the Township and shall
include the date of the request, the name and address of the requester, and
a clear description of the records sought.
The following fees shall be due and paid by any person or entity requesting
access to the Township's public records.
A.
Paper copies will be $0.25 per page, per side. If mailing is
requested, the cost of postage will be charged. Fax copies will be available
at the cost of $0.25 per page, per side.
B.
If a request is made for a copy of any record which cannot be
reasonably duplicated on the facilities available at the offices of the Township,
either due to the physical size or shape of the record or to the volume of
records being requested, the Township shall have the requested records duplicated
at a commercial copying service or similar location, and the person or entity
requesting the record shall be responsible for the amount charged by such
outside source, plus $25 for courier-conveyance service in connection with
the Township's transportation of the records to and from such source. A failure
by the person or entity to agree to pay such commercial copying charges, plus
any courier-conveyor charge, upon notice by the Township, shall constitute
a withdrawal or cancellation of the request for copies of such records.
C.
If a copy is requested in a form other than a photocopy (such
as a computer disk or other such nonpaper medium), the Township shall provide
such copies if reasonably feasible, and provided the person or entity requesting
the record has agreed to pay for the costs involved. The person or entity
shall be responsible for the actual costs of the Township in producing such
copy, plus $25 for courier-conveyance services of the Township, if any transportation
services to a location away from the offices of the Township is required.
A failure by the person or entity to agree to pay a nonpaper medium copying
charge, plus any courier-conveyor charge, upon notice by the Township, shall
constitute a withdrawal or cancellation of the request for copies of such
records.
D.
If a certification is requested, an additional charge of $2 will
be added.
E.
Payment is due at the time of delivery of the copies if the costs
are expected not to exceed $100. If the Township expects that the fees of
the copies being requested shall exceed $100, then the Township shall notify
the person or entity requesting the copies, and the copies will not be made
until the cost of the copies, as estimated by the Township, is paid in advance.
Either a supplemental bill or a refund shall be made if actual copying costs
are different than the Township's estimate.
F.
There is no charge for only inspecting the public records. The
fees are only for requests of copies of public records.
G.
The fees charged for copies of public records and all other fees
mentioned in this section may be changed by a resolution adopted by the Board
of Supervisors.
A.
The Township will make a good-faith effort to provide the requested
public records as promptly as feasible. Township employees shall cooperate
with those requesting to review and/or duplicate original Township documents
while taking reasonable measures to protect Township documents from the possibility
of theft and/or modification.
B.
The Township Manager shall review all written requests for access
to public records. As soon as possible, but not later than five business days
after receiving a written request to access public records, the Township Manager
shall respond to all such requests in a manner consistent with Act 100 of
2002, the Open Records Law.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 65 P.S. § 66.1 et seq.
A.
If a written request is denied or deemed denied, the requester
may file exceptions with the Board of Supervisors within 15 business days
of the mailing date of the Township's denial. The exceptions shall state grounds
on which the requester asserts that the record is a public record and shall
address any grounds stated by the Township for denying the request.
B.
The Board of Supervisors shall make a final determination on
the exceptions within 30 days of the mailing date of the exceptions. The Board
of Supervisors may hold a hearing on the issue during the 30 days. If the
Board determines that the denial was correct, it must provide a written explanation
to the requestor.
C.
The requester may appeal a final determination to the Common
Please Court or District Justice within 30 days of denial or final determination.
