Stephen Parker v. Pepperell, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20181436)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth · Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records October 10, 2018 SPRlS/1436 Jeanne M. Survell, CMC Pepperell Town Clerk Town of Pepperell One Main Street Pepperell, MA O1 463 Dear Ms. Survell: I have received the petition of Stephen Parker appealing the response of the Town of Peperell (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1 OA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on September 17, 2018, Stephen Parker requested "all of the correspondence of these Master Plan committee members, including cell phone records." The City responded by providing a fee estimate on September 25, 2018 and Mr. Parker appealed. 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, § IO(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 black and white copies for both single and double-sided copies of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first two 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). 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, § lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). 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

Jeanne M. Survell, CMC SPR18/1436 Page 2 October 10, 2018 Current appeal The Town's September 25th fee estimate states "the total number of hours to fulfill your request comes to 113 hours times $25 an hour equals $2,825." The Town explains the emails "will need to be redacted" and estimate it will take "36 email per hour." Further in support of redactions, the Town further explains redaction is required for "the TA search comm emails as that information is not public." The Town seeks clarification for different portions of Mr. Parker's request. It should be noted that the Town petitioned this office for permission to charge in excess of $25.00 an hour. See See SPR18/1381 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (September 25, 2018). In my Setpember 25th determination I found that in light of the factors in G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv), the Town had not met its burden to charge in excess of $25.00 per hour, specifically how the request could not prudently be completed without redaction or segregation under applicable statutes and why $225.00 an hour is that of the lowest paid person capable of performing the task. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee must be reasonable). With respect to the amount of time needed to comply with the request, it is unclear why approximately two minutes is necessary for each email to be reviewed and redacted, totaling 113 hours. It is additionally uncertain how the records contain private information, therefore, requiring the redaction. The School must clarify this matter. For the reasons discussed above, I find the School must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee assessed is expressly provided for and consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d ). This office encourages Mr. Parker and the Town to communicate further to narrow the scope of these requests. See G. L. c 66, § lO(a)(i). The Town must use its knowledge of the records to facilitate providing any responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(vii) ( a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide a revised fee estimate in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten 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.

Jeanne M. Survell, CMC SPR18/1436 Page 3 October 10, 2018 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Stephen Parker