[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Blairstown 9-17-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-09. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Access to
Public Records Ordinance" of the Township of Blairstown.
The Access to Public Records Ordinance is hereby
created pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.
The Township Clerk is hereby designated the
Custodian of Records for all public records maintained by the Township
and shall act in this capacity on behalf of the Township.
The Township shall make all public records accessible
to the citizens of this state in accordance with the procedures and
definitions set forth in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. unless said records
are exempt from inspection as set forth in said statute.
The Custodian of Records shall permit a public
record to be inspected, examined and copied by any person during regular
business hours of the Township Clerk and shall be permitted to redact
same in accordance with the governing statute.
A.
Paper, digital media and emailed and faxed copies.
[Amended 8-8-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-04]
(1)
Reproduced
paper copies for letter-sized pages and smaller shall be provided
at $0.05 per page.
(2)
Reproduced
paper copies for legal-sized pages and larger shall be provided at
seven $0.07 per page. (Oversized documents requested to be reproduced
in original size will be billed at the actual out-of-pocket cost to
the Township to have the document reproduced by an outside service
and/or the Township’s professional, as appropriate.)
(3)
Audio
tapes, CDs and other nonpaper digital media shall be billed at actual
cost.
(4)
There
shall be no charge for emailed or faxed records, provided the requested
records can be delivered in that format without modification or damage.
B.
In the event the nature, format, manner of collation,
or volume of a public record embodied in the form of print matter
to be inspected, examined, or copied is such that the record cannot
be reproduced by ordinary document copying equipment in ordinary business
size or involves an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort to
accommodate the request, the Township of Blairstown may charge, in
addition to the actual cost of duplicating the record, a special service
charge equal to the sum of $45 per hour for each hour expended by
the Custodian or his or her designee.
C.
The Custodian shall provide a copy of a record in
the medium requested if the Township maintains the record in that
medium. If the Township does not maintain the record in the medium
requested, the Custodian shall convert the record to the medium requested
or provide a copy in some other meaningful medium. The Township may
charge a special charge for reproducing a record in a medium which
requires extensive use of information technology, labor cost for personnel
providing the service and any other costs that are attributable to
the Township for the programming, clerical, and supervisory assistance
required in processing a request.
A.
All requests for public records shall be submitted
on a form maintained in the office of the Township Clerk. The Custodian
of Records may require a deposit against the estimated costs for reproducing
the documents sought through an anonymous request whenever the Custodian
of Records anticipates that the information thus requested will cost
in excess of $5 to reproduce.
B.
The form shall be hand-delivered, mailed, transmitted
electronically or otherwise conveyed to the Custodian of Records.
If the Custodian of Records is unable to promptly comply with the
request, the Custodian of Records shall sign and date the form, indicate
the specific basis for denying immediate access on the request form
and promptly return it to the requestor.
C.
If a portion of a record is not subject to access,
the Custodian of Records shall delete or excise from a copy of any
record that portion which is exempt from access.
D.
If a record is in storage or temporarily unavailable
at the time of the request, the Custodian of Records shall make arrangements
to obtain a copy of the record and promptly supply it to the requestor.
E.
If production of a record would substantially disrupt
the municipality's operations, the Custodian of Records may deny access
after attempting to reach a reasonable solution with the requestor
to accommodate the needs of the requestor and the municipality.
F.
Any officer or employee of the Township who receives
a request for access to a government record shall forward the request
to the Custodian of Records or direct the requestor to the Custodian
of Records.
G.
The Custodian of Records shall grant access to a government
record or deny a request for access to a government record as soon
as possible, but not later than seven business days after receiving
the request provided the record is currently available and not in
storage or archived in which case notice of same will be provided
to the requestor within the same time period. Failure to respond within
seven days will be deemed a denial of the request unless there is
no way to communicate with the requestor.
