[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Delaware
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 2-15-1995 by L.L. No. 1-1995]
There shall be a records management program established under
the aegis of the Town Board of the Town of Delaware and headed by
a records management officer (RMO). The officer will be responsible
for administering the noncurrent and archival public records and storage
areas for the Town of Delaware in accordance with local, state and
federal laws and guidelines. The RMO shall be the Town Clerk of the
Town of Delaware.
The officer shall have all the necessary powers to carry out
the efficient administration, determination of value, use, preservation,
storage and disposition of the noncurrent and archival public records
kept, filed or received by the offices and departments of the Town
of Delaware.
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:
(1)
Obsolete and unnecessary records according to New York State Records
Retention and Disposition Schedules thereby subject to disposition;
or
(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.
Establish guidelines for proper records management in any department
or agency of the Town of Delaware in accordance with local, state
and federal laws and guidelines.
C.
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 noncurrent and archival records for
all Town of Delaware departments and agencies.
E.
The officer shall establish a Town of Delaware archives and perform
the following functions:
(1)
Advise and assist Town of Delaware departments in reviewing and selecting
material to be transferred to the Town of Delaware 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, providing such policy does not conflict with any federal
or state statutes.
(6)
Provide information services to the Town of Delaware officers.
(7)
Collect archival materials which are not official Town of Delaware
records but which have associational value to the Town of Delaware
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 Supervisor of the Town of Delaware, one Town
Councilman designated by the Town Supervisor, the Town Historian or
a resident of the Town of Delaware as appointed by the Town Supervisor.
The Board shall meet periodically and have the following duties:
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 office
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 archived.
A.
A Town of Delaware 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 Delaware 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 article, 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 Delaware business.
An establishment maintained by the Town of Delaware 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 Delaware, in accordance with approved
records control schedules, of records no longer necessary for the
conduct of business by such agency, through removal methods which
may include:
The transfer of records from one Town of Delaware agency to
any other Town of Delaware agency.
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training,
promotion and 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 Delaware
agency for official use or to the public.
[Adopted at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
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 of confidentiality.
B.
These regulations provide information concerning the procedures by
which records may be obtained.
C.
Personnel shall furnish to the public the information and records
required by the Freedom of Information Law, as well as records otherwise
available by law.
D.
Any conflicts among laws governing public access to records shall
be construed in favor of the widest possible availability of public
records.
A.
The Town of Delaware Town Board is responsible for ensuring compliance
with the regulations herein and designates the Town Clerk and, in
his/her absence, the Deputy Town Clerk, who shall be responsible for
ensuring appropriate agency response to public requests for access
to records. The designation of a records access officer 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.
B.
The records access officer shall ensure that agency personnel:
(1)
Assist the requester in identifying requested records, if necessary.
(2)
Contact persons seeking records when a request is voluminous or when
locating the records involves substantial effort, so that personnel
may ascertain the nature of records of primary interest and attempt
to reasonably reduce the volume of records requested.
(5)
Upon request, certify that a record is a true copy.
Records shall be available for public inspection and copying
at the office of the Town Clerk, 104 Main Street, Hortonville, New
York 12745.
Requests for public access to records shall be accepted and
records produced during regular office hours.
A.
A written request may be required, but oral requests may be accepted
when records are readily available.
B.
If records are maintained on the Internet, the requester shall be
informed that the records are accessible via the Internet and/or in
printed form.
C.
A response shall be given regarding any request reasonably describing
the record or records sought within five business days of receipt
of a request.
D.
A request shall reasonably describe the records sought. Whenever
possible, a person requesting records should supply information regarding
dates, file designations or other information that may help to describe
the records sought.
E.
If the records access officer does not provide or deny access to
the records sought within five business days of receipt of a request,
he or she shall furnish a written acknowledgement of receipt of the
request and a statement of approximate date when the request will
be granted. Said date shall be reasonable under the circumstances
of the request and shall not be more than 20 business days after the
date of the acknowledgment. If circumstances prevent disclosure within
that time, the officer shall provide a statement in writing within
20 business days specifying the reason for the inability to provide
the material and a reasonable date when the request will be granted
in whole or in part.
F.
A failure to comply with the time limitations described herein shall
constitute a denial of a request that may be appealed.
A.
Denial of access to records shall be in writing stating the reason
therefor and advising the requester of the right to appeal to the
individual or body established to determine appeals, who shall be
identified by name, title, business address and business phone number.
B.
If requested records are not provided promptly, as required in § 58-12 of these regulations, such failure shall also be deemed a denial of access.
C.
The Town of Delaware Town Board shall determine appeals regarding
denial of access to records under the Freedom of Information Law.
Such appeals shall be made within 30 days of a denial.
D.
The time for deciding an appeal by the individual or body designated
to determine appeals shall commence upon receipt of a written appeal
identifying:
E.
A failure to determine an appeal within 10 business days of its receipt
by granting access to the records sought or fully explaining the reasons
for further denial in writing shall constitute a denial of the appeal.
F.
The person or body designated to determine appeals shall transmit
to the Committee on Open Government copies of all appeals upon receipt
of appeals. Such copies shall be addressed to the Committee on Open
Government, Department of State, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington
Avenue, Suite 650, Albany, New York 12231.
G.
The Town Board shall inform the appellant and the Committee on Open
Government of its determination in writing within 10 business days
of receipt of an appeal.
B.
Copies may be provided without charging a fee.
C.
Fees for copies may be charged, provided that:
(1)
The fee for copying records shall not exceed $0.25 per page for photocopies
not exceeding nine inches by 14 inches;
(2)
The fee for photocopies of records in excess of nine inches by 14
inches shall not exceed the actual cost of reproduction; or
(3)
An agency has the authority to redact portions of a paper record
and does so prior to disclosure of the record by making a photocopy
from which the proper redactions are made.
D.
The fee an agency may charge for a copy of any other record is based
on the actual cost of reproduction and may include only the following:
(1)
An amount equal to the hourly salary attributed to the lowest paid
employee who has the necessary skill required to prepare a copy of
the requested record, but only when more than two hours of the employee's
time is necessary to do so; and
(2)
The actual cost of the storage devices or media provided to the person
making the request in complying with such request; or
(3)
The actual cost to the agency of engaging an outside professional
service to prepare a copy of a record, but only when an agency's
information technology equipment is inadequate to prepare a copy,
and if such service is used to prepare the copy.
E.
An agency shall inform a person requesting a record of the estimated
cost of preparing a copy of the record if more than two hours of an
agency employee's time is needed or if it is necessary to retain
an outside professional service to prepare a copy of the record.
F.
An agency may require that the fee for copying or reproducing a record
be paid in advance of the preparation of such copy.
G.
An agency may waive a fee in whole or in part when making copies
of records available.
