John J. Gushue v. Millis, Town of - Office of the Town Clerk (SPR 20221525)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 12, 2022 SPR22/1525 Lisa Jane Hardin Town Clerk Town of Millis 900 Main Street Millis, MA 02054 Dear Ms. Hardin: I have received the petition of John J. Gushue, Esq. of GUSHUE LAW, on behalf of an identified client, appealing the response of the Town of Millis (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 10, 2022 and March 29, 2022, Attorney Gushue requested copies of records: “For the time period 1/1/2000 - present, all public records of the Millis Board of Selectmen/Town Administrator concerning the Tresca Brothers facility at 66 Main Street and/ or any properties within or abutting said facility in the area bounded by Main Street, Dwight Street, and the Charles River, including any permits or approvals issued by the Selectmen or Town Administrator.” The Town did not respond to the January 10th request; therefore, Attorney Gushue sent a second request on March 29, 2022. The Town is reminded, 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 from receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(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, § 10(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. In response to Attorney Gushue’s re-request, the Town provided a response on April 28, 2022. In its April 28th response, Karen Bouret DeMarzo, the Town’s Operations’ Support Manager indicated, “…we will provide anything we find in relation to the request within the next week or two. Please be advised that we only have access to emails from 2019-present. For anything prior to that we have to outsource to a company which is a costly and cumbersome process. We can provide a quote to meet this request if you do want a search of emails back to 2000.” 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

Lisa Jane Hardin, Town Clerk SPR22/1525 Page 2 July 12, 2022 In an April 29th email, Attorney Gushue clarified his request, stating, “…I am not interested in emails per se, so recent email records (2019-present) are sufficient. I am more specifically interested in records of any Town permits or approvals issue since 1/1/2000 by the Selectmen or Town Administrator for the Tresca Brothers facility at 66 Main Street, Dwight Street, and the Charles River.” On July 1, 2022, after not receiving any records or any further response, Attorney Gushue petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. Despite being notified of the opening of this appeal, it is unclear whether a response has been provided, and whether any records have been provided. Order Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Attorney Gushue with a response to his 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: John J. Gushue, Esq., GUSHUE LAW