Patrick D. McPhee v. Ashby, Town of - Office of the Town Clerk (SPR 20222385)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records November 2, 2022 SPR22/2385 Angela Jack Records Access Officer Town of Ashby 893 Main Street Ashby, MA 01431 Dear Ms. Jack: I have received the petition of Patrick D. McPhee appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Ashby (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On October 5, 2022, Mr. McPhee requested an update on these or consider this a record request as follows: 1. The solar field project? 2. [named address] Road a. I am hearing mixed reports from fire fighters and other (is all this true)? i. Judge order a stay order on the property owner for 14 days ii. Judge would not grant DEP access to private property iii. Did the Board of health find no contamination or violation on the property? iv. Judge order the Town to produce water test and locations from fire trucks and Tanker delivery within the next 15 days, something about contamination by the town? v. Someone said the property owner is looking at a large low income development (200 units) there? vi. 1 other town chief and 2 prior Ashby captains questioned backhoes? This is something I learned in 6th grade, don’t feed a fire O2 b. Is there a fire department ‘fire’ report. 3. Cable committee 4. Why legal fees are so high? a. Getting higher than Townsend and close to Pepperell/Ashburnham. b. Every meeting I hear from TA town council said. c. Did … justify high pay to reduce legal cost? This never happened, we have high pay and no reduction in legal cost[.] 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

Angela Jack SPR22/2385 Page 2 November 3, 2022 Claiming to not yet have received responsive records, Mr. McPhee petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/2385, was opened as a result. Despite being notified of the opening of this appeal, it remains unclear whether the Town has provided a response. Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. McPhee with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, 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 this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. McPhee may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Patrick D. McPhee