Hartley, Mary v. Orleans, Town of (SPR 20140731)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords February 23, 2015 SPR14/731 Mr. John F. Kelly Town Administrator Town of Orleans 19 School Road Orleans, MA 02653-3699 Dear Mr. Kelly: I have received the petition of Mary Hartley appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Orleans (Town) to her request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mrs. Hartley requested a copy of all records in the possession of the Town regarding written and electronic communications with N-Star relating to cormorants roosting on its power-lines running over Cedar Pond. The requested search includes a search of all Town Departments from January 1, 2013 through October 29, 2014. Having received no response, Mrs. Hartley petitioned this office. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (10) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The response may be an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. The Town is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequent to the intervention by members of my staff, you provided Mrs. Hartley with a written response. I find however, that the Town has still not met its burden under the Public Records Law. The ambiguity of your response creates uncertainty as to whether your search included all Town departments, consistent with the request. One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108. (617) 727-2832. Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. John F. Kelly SPR14/731 Page Two February 23, 2015 Accordingly, the Town is hereby ordered to respond to the request for all responsive Town records within ten (10) days. This administrative appeal is closed. Supervisor of Records cc: Mrs. Mary Hartley Mr. Michael Farber