[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Shandaken 7-12-1995 as L.L. No. 1-1995. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Public access to records — See Ch. 42.
There shall be a records management program
established under the aegis of the Town of Shandaken and headed by
a Records Management Officer (RMO). The Officer will be responsible
for administering the non-current and archival public records and
storage areas for the Town of Shandaken in accordance with local,
state and federal laws and guidelines.
The Officer shall have all the necessary powers
to carry out the efficient administration, determination of value,
use, preservation, storage and disposition of the non-current and
archival public records kept, filed or received by the offices and
departments of the Town of Shandaken.
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, as follows:
(1)
Obsolete and unnecessary records according to New
York State Records Retention and Disposition Schedules thereby subject
to disposition;
(2)
Information containing administrative, legal, fiscal,
research historical or educational value which warrant their permanent
retention; or
(3)
Records not subject to disposition according to State
Law.
B.
The Officer shall establish guidelines for proper
records management in any department or agency of the Town of Shandaken
in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C.
The Officer shall report annually to the chief executive
official and the governing body on the powers and duties herein mentioned
including, but not limited to, the cost/benefit ratio of programs
effectuated by the department.
D.
The Officer shall operate a Records Management Center
for the storage, processing and servicing of all non-current and archival
records for all Town of Shandaken departments and agencies.
E.
The Officer shall establish a Town of Shandaken archives
and perform the following functions:
(1)
Advise and assist the Town of Shandaken Departments
in reviewing and selecting material to be transferred to the Town
of Shandaken Archives for preservation.
(2)
Continually survey and examine public records to determine
the most suitable methods to be used for the creating, maintaining,
storing and servicing of archival materials.
(3)
Establish and maintain an adequate repository for
the proper storage, conservation, processing and servicing of archival
records.
(4)
Promulgate rules governing public access to and use
of records in the archives, subject to the approval of the Records
Advisory Board.
(5)
Develop a confidentiality policy for archival records
designated confidential, provided that such policy does not conflict
with any federal or state statutes.
(6)
Provide information services to other Town of Shandaken
offices.
(7)
Collect archival materials which are not official
Town of Shandaken records, but have associational value to the Town
of Shandaken or a close relationship to the existing archival collection.
Such collecting shall be subject to archive space, staff and cost
limitations, and to the potential endangerment of such materials if
they are not collected by the Archives.
(8)
Develop a procedure whereby historically important
records are to be identified at the point of generation.
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 the Town Supervisor, Records Management
Officer, Records Management Assistant, Town Historian, Assistant Historian
and Museum Director. The Board shall meet periodically and have the
following duties to:
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 retention periods proposed by the Records Management
Officer for records not covered by 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.
A.
A Town of Shandaken department is the legal custodian
of its records and shall retain custody of records deposited in the
Records Center. Records transferred to or acquired by the Archives
shall be under the custody and control of the Archives rather than
the department which created or held them immediately prior to being
transferred to the Archives.
B.
Records shall be transferred to the Archives upon
the recommendation of the RMO, with the approval of the head of the
department which has custody of the records and the approval of the
Records Advisory Board.
C.
Records may be permanently removed from the Archives
at the request of the RMO or the head of the department which had
custody of the records immediately prior to the transfer of those
records to the Archives, subject to the approval of the Records Advisory
Board.
The Legal Department may take steps to recover
local government records which have been alienated from proper custody,
and may, when necessary, institute actions of replevin.
No records shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed
of by a department of the Town of Shandaken unless approval has been
obtained from the Records Management Officer. No records shall be
destroyed or otherwise disposed of by the Records Management Officer
without the express written consent of the department head having
authority.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Those official records which have been determined by the
officer and Advisory Committee to have sufficient historical or other
value to warrant their continued preservation by the local government.
Any documents, books, papers, photographs, sound recordings,
microforms or any other materials, regardless of physical form or
characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or
in connection with the transaction of official Town of Shandaken business.
An establishment maintained by the Town of Shandaken primarily
for the storage, servicing, security and processing of records which
must be preserved for varying periods of time and need not be retained
in office equipment or space.
The removal by the Town of Shandaken, in accordance
with approved records control schedules, of records no longer necessary
for the conduct of business by such agency through removal methods
which include:
The transfer of records from one Town of Shandaken
agency to any other Town of Shandaken agency.
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training,
promotion or other managerial use and records disposition, including
records preservation, records disposal and records center or other
storage facilities.
Making information in records available to any Town of Shandaken
agency for official use or to the public.
