Gary Winitzer v. Royalston, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20210923)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 26, 2021 SPR21/0923 Barbara Richardson Town Clerk Town of Royalston P.O. Box 127 Royalston, MA 01368 Dear Ms. Richardson: I have received the petition of Gary Winitzer appealing the response of the Town of Royalston (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Mr. Winitzer requested the following records from the Town’s Select Board and Building Committee concerning the building known as the Raymond School and property at 3 Raymond Place: “[1] Minutes of Building Committee for meetings on January 16, 2020 and February 20, 2020. [2] Contract with A & E Environmental and all change orders. [3] Contract with R. F. Builders of Orange and all changes in statement of work. [4] Proof of waivers from the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance. [5] All building permits issued. [6] Copy of the Asbestos Waste Shipment Record. [7] Accounts Payable forms from January 1, 2020 through January 28, 2021. [8] All e-mails and texts to and from [an identified individual] from January 9, 2020 through July 10, 2020.” The Town provided Mr. Winitzer with responsive records on March 23, 2021 and April 8, 2021; however, Mr. Winitzer petitioned the Supervisor of Records on April 9, 2021. In his April 9th petition, Mr. Winitzer indicates that he did not receive all the records responsive to his February 1, 2021 request. As a result, this appeal was opened. In his appeal petition, Mr. Winitzer states, “. . . I have received four documents requested from the Building Committee and a document about emails, and Building Permits from Building Inspector. I have not received any e-mails or texts, and Accounts Payable forms were not complete.” 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

Barbara Richardson SPR21/0923 Page 2 April 23, 2021 In light of Mr. Winitzer’s petition, it is unclear if the Town possesses additional responsive records. If additional records exist, the Town must provide Mr. Winitzer with a timeline in which the balance of the records will be provided to him, and where possible the Town should provide the records on a rolling basis. In addition, I encourage the parties to continue to communicate to resolve the provision of outstanding responsive records from Mr. Winitzer’s February 1st request. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Winitzer with a response to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Gary Winitzer