David A. Eckert v. Rochester, Town of - Office of Town Counsel (SPR 20170005)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 10, 2017 SPR17/005 BlairS. Bailey, Esq. Town Counsel Town of Rochester Office of the Town Counsel 1 Constitution Way Rochester, MA 02770 Dear Attorney Bailey: I have received the petition of David A. Eckert appealing the response of the Town of Rochester (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Mr. Eckert requested a copy of records regarding the Town Hall Annex Committee (Committee), specifically: 1. All meeting notices and postings, 2. All meeting minutes, and 3. All materials or other exhibits used by the Committee, including electronic communications. Timeliness of response Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (1 0) 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 reminded that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Creation and purpose of the Committee Your December 22, 2016 response states that the Committee was put together by the then Town Administrator, Michael McCue with the input of the Board of Selectmen. Mr. McCue picked certain employees of the Town that he deemed important to the discussion; Facilities Manager, Highway Surveyor, Town Counsel and Chairs of the Planning Board and Zoning One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Blair S. Bailey, Esq. SPR17/005 Page 2 January 10, 2017 Board. The purpose of the Committee was to gather information requested at Town Meeting as to options and costs with regard to the possibility of building a new Town Hall Annex building and the expansion of that building to be a new Town Hall in the future. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10 ( c); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(4 ). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2) (where cost of complying with a request for public records is expected to exceed ten dollars ($1 0.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Attorneys on my staff are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, members of my staff will visit a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determination for further information. In a January 10 telephone conversation with an attorney on my staff, you explained that the former Town Administrator and Chair of the Committee, Michael McCue posted meeting notices and took meeting minutes. It is my understanding that the Town made a diligent search for the meeting minutes taken by Mr. McCue. However, the Committee was advised to take and retain meeting minutes and any other records that the Committee receives and creates, which the Committee has been complying with since Mr. McCue's departure from Town government. You informed my staff attorney that the Committee has provided Mr. Eckert with records responsive to his requests. For guidance in records management and retention, I invite the Town to consult with this office's Records Management Unit that is available to answer questions and assist cities, towns and state agencies with issues regarding records management and retention.· The Records Management Unit may be reached at (617) 727-2816. I also invite the Town to review the Municipal Records Retention Manual found at: www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcnnu/rmuidx.htm. You provided this office with copies of two written responses that you sent to Mr. Eckert on December 22, 2016 and January 10, 2017 on behalf of the Committee concerning the public records request. In January 10 telephone conversations with Richard Cutler, Chairman of the

Blair S. Bailey, Esq. SPR17/005 Page 3 January 10,2017 Committee and Arnold Johnson, Planning Board Chairman and member of the Committee, my staff attorney learned that Mr. Cutler provided Mr. Eckert with copies of meeting notices, meeting minutes and the presentation that the Committee made to the Town's Board of Selectmen. This office advised Mr. Cutler and Mr. Johnson that they should consult you regarding the best Town department in which to retain the Committee's records in order to facilitate access to the Committee's records in responding to future public records requests. Conclusion Accordingly, whereas the Committee has provided Mr. Eckert with the responsive records in its custody and in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Regulations, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. David A. Eckert cc: Mr. Richard Cutler, Chairman