Beth Meyers, Esq. v. Dracut, Town of - Town Manager (SPR 20210968)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 21, 2021 SPR21/0968 Ann Vandal Town Manager Town of Dracut 62 Arlington Street Dracut, MA 01826 Dear Ms. Vandal: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town of Dracut (Town) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of the requested public record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the Town provided a copy of the petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). In a request received by the Town on April 5, 2021, Attorney Meyers requested the below: 1. Any and all email correspondence between and among [identified] email accounts for the period January 1, 2020 to the present: 2. Time, attendance and payroll records indicating payroll codes for accrued time, paid and/or unpaid leave and any other leave usage for [identified] Town employees [for specific time periods]. 3. Payroll summary reports for any Town employee no names in Request No. 2, above, who took extended time off (more than two weeks) using accrued time, unpaid leave or 111F leave for the period January 1, 2020 to the present. 4. Any and all written minutes and audio/video recordings of Executive Sessions of the Town’s Board of Selectmen that mention or reference . . . from April 1, 2017 through present. 5. Any and all indemnification insurance policies that provide coverage to [an identified individual], including but not limited to the policy referenced in Section 7 of his contract with the Town. 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

Ann Vandal SPR21/0968 Page 2 April 21, 2021 6. Documents concerning the 2015 Risk Assessment Study Report for the Dracut Fire Department created by Municipal Resources, Inc., (the “Report”), including the following: a. An unredacted copy of the full Report; b. Any and all notes of meetings concerning implementation of the Report’s recommendations. c. Any and all working documents and correspondence between the Dracut Town Manager, the Dracut Fire Chief and any other Fire Department employee concerning the Report, its recommendations, implementation of the recommendations and the dates[.] A representative from the Town contacted this office on April 14, 2021, requesting an extension of time to respond to Attorney Meyers’ request. Petitions for an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Current petition In the Town’s petition dated April 14th, you indicate that the request is “extremely burdensome to answer.” As an example, you indicate that the “number of emails responsive to the first category of the request alone is over 10,000…” Further, you indicate that there “will

Ann Vandal SPR21/0968 Page 3 April 21, 2021 undoubtedly be documents that implicate the privacy rights of individuals or personnel records as most of the named individuals are Town employees or officials.” Lastly, “there may be records that constitute attorney-client privileged communications.” Given the scope of this request, you petitioned this office for a “30-day extension.” You affirm that this extension request is “warranted due to the magnitude of detail needed, redaction and other time consuming and costly research, as well as the ongoing difficulties caused by the pandemic.” Conclusion Accordingly, I hereby grant the Town an extension of 30 business days to furnish copies of records responsive to Attorney Meyers’ request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). The Town is advised it must provide the records in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Regulations. To the extent possible, the Town must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. Attorney Meyers may seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(c), 10A(c). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Beth Meyers, Esq.