Scott E. McGowan v. Williamstown, Town of - Fire District (SPR 20213383)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 10, 2022 SPR21/3383 Craig Pedercini Fire Chief Williamstown Fire Department 34 North Street Williamstown, MA 01267 Dear Chief Pedercini: I have received the petition of Scott McGowan appealing the response of the Williamstown Fire Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On November 16, 2021, Mr. McGowan requested: [1] Any and all records…related to all public records requests received by the District from January 1, 2017, and the time of response to this request; [2] Any and all records…related to any fees charged and collected by the Williamstown Fire District from any public records requests received by the District from January 1, 2017, and the time of response to this request. [3] Any and all records…related to compliance with the changes to the Public Records Law and its Regulations effective January 1, 2017, specific to the Districts designation of a Records Access Officer and where this information is publicly posted from January 1, 2017, and the time of response to this request. Previous Appeal The records in question were the subject of a previous appeal and fee estimate. See SPR21/3160 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (December 13, 2021). On December 28, 2021, the Department provided a supplemental response to Mr. McGowan. Unsatisfied with the Department’s subsequent response, Mr. McGowan petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR21/3383, was opened as a result. 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

Chief Craig Pedercini SPR21/3383 Page 2 January 10, 2021 Fee Estimate 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, § 10(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 a black and white single or double-sided photocopy 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, § 10(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, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Petitions relating to fees must be submitted to the Supervisor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). Modification of the scope of the request In his appeal, Mr. McGowan states, “for clarification purposes, I am only looking for the actual number of public records requests the [Department] has received in the provided time frame and no other information about those records requests. Chief Pedercini has stated in summary, ‘The fire district keeps a digital log of all the monthly permits that are taken out. A PRR such as a fire report would be recorded in this log.’ Therefore, obtaining the total number of records requests received by the [Department] (and how much money collected by the [Department]) should be effortless.” In light of Mr. McGowan’s clarification, I find it unnecessary to opine on the Department’s fee estimate at this time. This office encourages Mr. McGowan and the Department to continue to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. Mr. McGowan may wish to narrow the scope of his request and resubmit his request to the Department. Any fee estimate by the Department must be in compliance with the Public Records Law and its Regulations. If outstanding issues remain, Mr. McGowan may further appeal within 90 days of receipt of the response. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Chief Craig Pedercini SPR21/3383 Page 3 January 10, 2021 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Scott McGowan