Sunil Prajapati v. Burlington, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20221700)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records August 3, 2022 SPR22/1700 Amy E. Warfield Town Clerk Town of Burlington 29 Center Street Burlington, MA 01803 Dear Ms. Warfield: I have received the petition of Sunil Prajapati appealing the response of the Town of Burlington (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On June 17, 2022, Mr. Prajapati requested the following records: 1. (a) List of all permits issued by every department since Jan 1, 2016. List should include Permit #, Department, Permit Description, Property Type, Property Address, Owner, Date Opened, Date Approved to start work (if approved), Date Closed, if closed). Any additional information required for any or all permits will be in a follow-up email; 2. Fire Department Related: (b) List of Permits (Permit # only) where the Fire Department requested a test, (c) List of Permits where the Fire Department requested compliance with UL268, UL985, UL 2075, UL 268, UL 521 and NFPA 72; (d) List of Permits where a test was actually submitted; (e) A few sample test reports submitted to permits issued to single family, single family with in-law, single family with accessory and two family; Building Department Related: (f) List of Permits where Building Department found issues and construction was halted; (g) List of Permits where the Building Department found multiple issues and construction was halted multiple times; (h) List of Permits where the Building Department found height issues after permit was issued and construction work was started; (i)List of Permits where insulation was rejected and needed multiple efforts to resolve the matter. (j) List of Permits where the Building Department found need to enforce 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

Amy E. Warfield, Town Clerk SPR22/1700 Page 2 August 3, 2022 structural changes after construction was started; (k) List of Permits where the Building Department found it necessary to enforce removal of insulation from the basement; (l) List of Permits where the Building Department found it necessary to enforce removal of drywalls from the basement; (m) List of Permits where the Building Department found it necessary to enforce removal of electrical outlets from the basement; (n) List of permits where elevation by a licensed surveyor was requested at least once; (o) List of permits where elevation by a licensed surveyor was requested multiple times.” The Town provided Mr. Prajapati with a response on July 21, 2022. The Town explained, “[t]he [Department] does not issue permits for residential fire alarm installations, and therefore [it] ha[s] no permit numbers to forward to you. Several addresses that installed fire alarm systems that conformed to the requirements of 780 CMR 9th Edition and NFPA 72 are: [three identified property locations]. I have also attached a sample test report that was requested.” Also on July 21st, the Town provided Mr. Prajapati with the list of permits that he requested. On July 22, 2022, the Town’s Legal Counsel, Alexander M. Castro of Mead, Talerman & Costa, LLC sent Mr. Prajapati an email, asserting, “[p]lease be advised that the Town has provided you with all records responsive to the public records request…” Unsatisfied with the Town’s response and provision of records, Mr. Prajapati petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal, SPR22/1700, was opened as a result. In his petition, Mr. Prajapati indicates, “[t]his email is to file an appeal for providing incomplete, inaccurate or missing information for our information request…” The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). “Public records” is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any agency or municipality of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). After this appeal was opened, Attorney Castro provided a July 29, 2022 email response to Mr. Prajapati and this office, indicating that the Town provided all the records responsive to the requests. However, a review by this office of the Excel Spreadsheet List of Building Permits provided to Mr. Prajapati reveals that it is unclear whether the Town provided the specific information on building permits that were described in Mr. Prajapati’s June 17th request regarding the permits in the possession of the Building Department. For example, Mr. Prajapati’s request sought permits where the Building Department found issues and construction was halted.

Amy E. Warfield, Town Clerk SPR22/1700 Page 3 August 3, 2022 See Request No. 3(f). Another example of the specific requests Mr. Prajapati made is for permits where the Building Department found height issues after permit was issued and construction work was started. See Request No. 3(h). The Town is advised that Mr. Prajapati made specifically-stated requests for the Building Department requests, noted as Requests 3(f)-(o). It is unclear whether the specific information requested for the Town’s Building Department permits was provided on the Excel Spreadsheet or any other records provided to Mr. Prajapati. I find that that the Town must clarify whether it is in possession of the requested information, and provide Mr. Prajapati with a response to clarify this issue. See Mr. Prajapati’s June 17, 2022 Requests Numbered 3(f)-(o). In addition, I encourage the parties to continue to communicate to resolve any further issues surrounding the request. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Prajapati with a response to his request in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Sunil Prajapati Alexander M. Castro, Esq., Mead, Talerman & Costa, LLC