Michael Corsetti v. Manchester-by-the-Sea, Town of - (SPR 20200878)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 15, 2020 SPR20/0878 Christina St. Pierre Town of Manchester-by-the- Sea 10 Central Street Manchester-by-the Sea, MA 01944 Dear Ms. St. Pierre: I have received the petition of Michael Corsetti appealing the response of the Town of Manchester-by-the Sea (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Corsetti requested the audio/visual records for the following meetings: 1. Planning Board: December 9, 2019; November 18, 2019; and July 8, 2019; 2. Zoning Board of Appeals: July 7, 2019-January 23, 2020; and 3. Conservation Commission: July 7, 2019-January 23, 2020. In a May 15, 2020 response, the Town, through its Legal Counsel Michele E. Randazzo of KP Law, P.C., provided Mr. Corsetti with a $100.00 dollar estimate to produce the audio recordings of the specific meetings in his request. The Town indicates it will charge Mr. Corsetti for search time at the lowest paid person capable of compiling and reproducing responsive records. Specifically, the estimate states: “[h]ere it is estimated that there are a total of 24 meetings for the date ranges specified (3 Planning Board meetings; 7 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting(s); 14 Conservation Commission meetings). Recordings for these meetings would need to be processed for digital transfer and/or upload to a digital file. It is anticipated that it will take approximately 4 hours of employee time to accomplish this. The lowest paid person capable of performing this work is paid more than $25/hour, and therefore, [Mr. Corsetti] will be charged $25/hour, for a total fee of $100.00.” While Mr. Corsetti did not request approved meeting minutes, Attorney Randazzo informed Mr. Corsetti that the open session meeting minutes dating back to 2018 can be found on the Town’s website, at https://www.manchester.ma.us/AgendaCenter. Mr. Corsetti only needs 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

Christina St. Pierre SPR20/0878 Page 2 June 15, 2020 to select the board whose minutes he wishes to search, and he can review both agendas and minutes for meetings, organized by date. In Mr. Corsetti’s petition to the Supervisor of Records, he indicates that he paid the fee estimate and the Town processed his payment on May 18, 2020; however, he has not received the audio recordings. As a result, this office opened this appeal, SPR20/0878. It is my understanding that Mr. Corsetti does not object to the estimate; only that the Town has not provided any of the responsive recordings from the meetings specified in his request. By email on June 14, 2020, you informed this office that the Town provided Mr. Corsetti with the responsive recordings. Accordingly, I consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Michael Corsetti Michele E. Randazzo, Esq., KP Law, P.C.