[Adopted 2-26-1996 by L.L. No. 2-1996]
There shall be a Records Management Program established under
the aegis of the Village of East Hills 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 Village
of East Hills 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 noncurrent and archival public records
kept, filed or received by the offices and departments of the Village
of East Hills.
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;
(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 Records Management Officer shall establish guidelines for proper
records management in any department or agency of the Village of East
Hills in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C.
The Records Management 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 noncurrent and archival records for
all Village of East Hills departments and agencies.
E.
The Officer shall establish a Village of East Hills archives and
perform the following functions:
(1)
Advise and assist Village of East Hills departments in reviewing
and selecting material to be transferred to the Village of East Hills
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 Village of East Hills offices.
(7)
Collect archival materials which are not official Village of East
Hills records but which have associational value to the Village of
East Hills 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 Mayor and Board of Trustees. 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 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 Village of East Hills 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 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 Village of East Hills 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 Village of East Hills
business.
An establishment maintained by the Village of East Hills
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 Village of East Hills, 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 Village of East Hills agency
to any other Village of East Hills agency.
The planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training,
promotion and other managerial use and records disposition, including
records preservation, records disposal and records centers or other
storage facilities.
Making information in records available to any Village of
East Hills agency for official use or to the public.
