[Amended 5-21-1979 by Ord. No. 43-79; 9-21-1981 by Ord. No. 31-81; 12-18-1989 by Ord. No.
29-89; 2-21-1994 by Ord. No. 2-94; 4-19-2004 by Ord. No. 11-04]
A.
All persons seeking to inspect, examine or copy a
public record of the Township shall make application in writing to
the Township Clerk during regular business hours. The request shall
be hand-delivered, mailed, transmitted electronically or otherwise
conveyed to the Township Clerk. All requests for public records shall
be as specific as possible, including the type of record and date
created, if known.
B.
Copies of records may be obtained for the fee prescribed
by law or regulation. If a fee is not prescribed by law or regulation,
the fee shall be the fee set forth herein; provided, however, that
where the actual cost for duplication of a record exceeds the rates
below, the actual cost shall be imposed.
A.
Duplication of printed records.
(1)
Photocopied documents (general records, e-mail, and
press proofs, if available).
[Amended 7-19-2010 by Ord. No. 16-10; 10-18-2010 by Ord. No. 23-10]
(2)
Maps.
(a)
Zoning Map: $5 per sheet.
(b)
Street Map, 24 inches by 36 inches: $5 per sheet.
(c)
Tax Maps, 24 inches by 36 inches: $5 per sheet.
(d)
Other maps, 24 inches by 36 inches: $5 per sheet.
(e)
Topographic map: $5 per sheet.
(f)
Other maps, larger than 24 inches by 36 inches:
cost to Township.
(g)
Floodplain map, 54 inches by 27 inches: cost
to Township.
(h)
Full set of Tax Maps: $125.
(4)
Police records.
[Amended 2-21-2005 by Ord. No. 3-05; 12-20-2010 by Ord. No.
27-10]
(a)
Copies of motor vehicle accident reports (obtained in person): as set forth in Subsection A(1) above.
(b)
Copies of motor vehicle accident reports (other than in person, when not part of a discovery request): the fee set forth in Subsection A(1) above plus $5.
(c)
Copies of motor vehicle accident reports (when part of discovery request) and discovery requests other than in person: as set forth in Subsection A(1) above, plus actual postage and $0.25 per envelope.
(d)
Incident verification letter: $5.
(e)
Duplicate photographs: actual cost of duplicating.
B.
Electronic records.
[Amended 2-21-2005 by Ord. No. 3-05; 10-18-2010 by Ord. No.
23-10]
(1)
Audiotape
reproduction of public meeting: actual cost to Township.
(2)
Conversion
of paper record to electronic form or conversion of electronic files
from one software product to another: actual cost to Township.
(3)
Audiotape
of police communications, tape, disk or CD: actual cost to Township.
(4)
Copies
of video tapes associated with court discovery: actual cost to Township.
(5)
Computer-generated
records: actual cost to Township.
(6)
Records
on disk or CD; CD-to-CD or disk-to-disk reproduction: actual cost
to Township.
(7)
Digital
photographs: actual cost to Township.
C.
Special service charges.
(1)
Where the nature, format, manner of collation or volume
of printed matter is such that it cannot be reproduced by ordinary
document-copying equipment in ordinary business size or where such
record requires an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort to
accommodate a request for inspection or copying of documents, a special
service charge shall be imposed in addition to the actual costs of
duplicating the record. A special service charge will also be applied
when the custodian must change the medium in which the record is normally
kept in order to comply with the request.
(2)
The special service charge shall be paid to the Township
of Washington at the following rates:
(a)
For all services performed by employees of the
Township, the actual hourly rate of compensation for each clerical
and supervisory employee performing the service, plus the copying
or reproduction cost and actual mailing cost, when applicable.
(b)
For all services performed by the Township's
paid professional consultants, the rate paid by the Township for said
services.
(c)
The requestor shall have the opportunity to
review and object to the special service charge prior to the production
of documents.
D.
Postage will be added to the fee for records requested
by mail.
E.
All fees must be paid prior to the release of any
copies. The custodian of the records may require a deposit of all
or part of the fee prior to copying or producing any documents for
inspection where it is estimated that the records requested will cost
in excess of $5 to reproduce.
F.
For reasons of security, the use of a floppy disk,
CD, videotape or audiotape provided by the requestor is prohibited.
All electronic reproduction materials shall be supplied by the Township
of Washington.
G.
If the request for access to a government record would
substantially disrupt municipal operations, the custodian of the records
may deny access to the record after attempting to reach a reasonable
solution with the requestor that accommodates the interests of the
requestor and the municipality.
H.
In the event that the requestor of the documents objects
to any charges permitted by this article and no resolution of the
objection may be reasonably accomplished, the custodian of records
shall not incur any charges on behalf of the Township to fulfill the
document request.
I.
Nothing in this section or any other ordinance of
the Township shall be construed as requiring the Township of Washington
to furnish copies of any privileged documents or other documents which
have been determined to be exempt from the requirements of the Open
Public Records Act or otherwise nondisclosable in accordance with
any provision of law.
For the services or materials hereinafter mentioned,
the Township of Washington shall be entitled to demand and receive
the following fees:
A.
Issuance of floodplain certifications based upon an
examination of current flood hazard area maps published by the Federal
Insurance Administration: $10 for each certification.
B.
Municipal lien search pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:5-11:
$10.
C.
List of property owners pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-12,
Subdivision c: $0.25 per name or $10, whichever is greater.
D.
Returned check fee: $25.
[Added 2-19-2007 by Ord. No. 2-07]
F.
Fee for
on-site inspection of property pursuant to application for farmland
assessment, payable every three years: $25. Note: Contiguous and noncontiguous
parcels of land under the same ownership are subject to a single fee
only.
[Added 2-15-2010 by Ord. No. 06-10]
