[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Yorktown as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 4-4-1989 by L.L. No. 10-1989]
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 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 Yorktown business.
An establishment maintained by the town 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, 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 planning, controlling, directing, organizing, training,
promotion and other managerial use and record disposition, including
records preservation, records disposal and records centers or other
storage facilities.
Making information in records available to any Town of Yorktown
agency for official use or to the public.
There shall be a records management program
established under the aegis of the Records Advisory Board and headed
by the records management officer (RMO). The officer will be responsible
for administering the noncurrent and archival public records and storage
areas for the Town of Yorktown in accordance with local, state and
federal laws and guidelines. The RMO may, at her/his discretion, appoint
a designee to perform her/his RMO functions and duties hereunder.
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 Yorktown.
A.
The RMO shall continually survey and examine public
records to recommend their classification so as to determine the most
suitable methods to be used for maintaining, storing and servicing
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.
(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 Yorktown
in accordance with local, state and federal laws and guidelines.
C.
The officer shall operate or contract for a records
management center for the storage, processing and servicing of all
noncurrent and archival records for all Town of Yorktown departments
and agencies.
D.
The officer shall establish a Town of Yorktown Archives
and perform the following functions:
(1)
Advise and assist Yorktown departments in reviewing
and selecting material to be transferred to the Yorktown Archives
for preservation.
(2)
Continually survey and examine public records to determine
the most suitable methods to be used for creating, maintaining, storing
and servicing 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 Yorktown
offices.
(7)
Collect archival materials which are not official
Town of Yorktown records but which have associational value to the
Town of Yorktown 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 one Councilperson, the Town Attorney,
one representative of the Police Department, the Building Inspector
or designee, the Planning Director, the Town Historian and one representative
of the general public. 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
archival.
A.
Each Town of Yorktown department is the legal custodian
of its records and shall retain legal 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, supervised
by the Curator/Director of the Yorktown Museum, 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.
C.
Records may be permanently removed for cause 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.
