Linda Lessard v. Billerica, Town of (SPR 20190602)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 4, 2019 SPR19/0602 Shirley E. Schult Town of Billerica 365 Boston Road Billerica, MA O1 821 Dear Ms. Schult: I have received the petition of Ms. Linda Lessard appealing the response of the Town of Billerica (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Specifically, Ms. Lessard requested "a complete review of all the meeting/hearing minutes and all related discussions, deliberations, reports, letters, emails, etc. from each of the following offices: Town of Billerica's Conservation Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals and Town Selectman's office between 2013-present." The Town responded to Ms. Lessard on February 24t\ informing Ms. Lessard that the town is "working to ensure [they] post all minutes and agendas from town boards and committees on the appropriate Town websites" and that the town manager is "putting together a plan to get them all up to date." Further, the Town asserted that "there is no requirement from the open meeting law that minutes be posted on the town's website." Ms. Lessard responded on February 24th asking when she could "come in to inspect all the approved minutes in the various departments (ZBA, Selectmans and Conservation Offices) as well as the related discussions, reports, deliberations, notes, emails, etc." On March 21st, having received no response, Ms. Lessard petitioned this office and this appeal was opened. Public Records Law Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within 10 business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness ofresponse. As of the date of this letter, it is my understanding that the Town has not provided Ms. Lessard a response to her request for records. 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

Town of Billerica - SPR19/0602 Page2 April 4, 2019 Open Meeting Law Please be advised that the interpretation of the Open Meeting Law falls within the authority of the Office of the Attorney General and not this office. See G. L. c. 30A, § 23. It is recommended that you contact the Division of Open Government within the Office of the Attorney General should. you seek a determination on Open Meeting Law issues. Order Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Lessard with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and it's Regulations without delay. 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. Sincerely, ,fJJwA Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Ms. Linda Lessard