Brian J. Corriveau v. Warren, Town of (SPR 20170184)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords February 15, 2017 SPR17/184 Rebecca Acerra Records Access Officer Town of Warren 48 High Street, P.O. Box 609 Warren, MA 01083-0609 Dear Ms. Acerra: I have received the petition of Brian Corriveau appealing the response of the Town of Warren (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, in requests dated January 10, 2017, Mr. Corriveau sought several categories of records related to work recently done at the Town Hall. See also SPRl 7/103 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (January 27, 2017). The Town provided a fee estimate to Mr. Corriveau in a letter dated January 12, 2017. Fee estimates A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d ). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first (two) 2 hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the municipality has 20,000 people or less. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(iii). Where appropriate, municipalities may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). 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

Rebecca Acerra SPRl 7/184 Page2 February 15, 2017 A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10( d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(iii); 950 CMR 32.06(4 ). The Town's January Jih response In the Town's January lih letter you explain that Mr. Corriveau sought records from various departments within the Town, specifically the Board of Selectmen, Board of Health, Town Treasurer, and Town Accountant. The Town provided a fee estimate of $145.40 for the provision of records. This fee is comprised of 5 hours for "search and segregation time" at $25.00 an hour as well as 408 pages ofrecords at a copying cost of $0.05 per page. You explain the "breakdown for copying is as follows:" 300 pages for the Board of Selectmen, 70 pages for the Town Accountant, and 38 pages for the Board of Health. You indicate "the Town Treasurer did not have any records responsive to your request." Based on the Town's January 12th response, it is unclear how much of the 5 hours is allocated to "search time" and how much is allocated to "segregation time." The Town must clarify the amount of time needed for each of the tasks discussed in the January lih fee estimate, as well as explain why such time is necessary. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 CMR 32.06(4). Further, in his appeal petition Mr. Corriveau indicates he has not received a response from the Town Accountant or Board of Health. The Town must clarify whether it has responded on behalf of the Town Accountant and Board of Health. I understand an attorney on my staff contacted you and, provided a copy of the file associated with this appeal. You indicated the Town would provide a supplemental response to Mr. Corriveau. Conclusion Accordingly, I will consider this appeal closed with the proviso that the Town provide Mr. Corriveau with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Brian J. Corriveau