Steven R. Drury v. Templeton, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20230052)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records January 24, 2023 SPR23/0052 Adam Lamontagne Town Administrator Town of Templeton Town Hall, Room 6 East Templeton, MA 01438 Dear Mr. Lamontagne: I have received the petition of Steven R. Drury appealing the response of the Town of Templeton (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On December 8, 2022, Mr. Drury submitted the following request: [A]ll documents as to: the required bonding for all town employees holding the employee title as follows: law state I request then for starting with year 2018, 19, 20, 21 ‐ 2022 I required also all the “invoice” as to “all payments render” for each BOND for each employee. All cancel recipes unredacted, as matter of public record, below is the listing of such laws and employees, title 1 for managers templeton municipal light and water please Provide current BONDING and past as said herein this is required by law under Chapter 41 SEC 35, mgl c 30 . SEC 18, c 41 SEC 109a for managers Templeton munic[i]pal light and water, and 2 ed. Town Clerk MGL C 41 sec 13 3ed Town Treasurer MGL chapter 41 sec 35 4th town assistant treasure MGL 41 39A any temporary town officer MGL 41 section 40 [sic] Previous Appeal This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR22/2873 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (December 29, 2022). In my December 29th determination, I ordered the Town to revise or provide further explanation concerning its fee estimate. Subsequently, the Town responded on January 9, 2023. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Drury further appealed, and this case 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

Adam Lamontagne SPR23/0052 Page 2 January 24, 2023 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). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Att’y for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. If there are any fees associated with a response, a written good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. Fee Estimates - Municipalities 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 2 (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). Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Drury clarifies that he seeks records “for only 2018 to 2022.” While the current appeal was pending, and in response to Mr. Drury’s clarification, the Town

Adam Lamontagne SPR23/0052 Page 3 January 24, 2023 provided a further revised fee estimate on January 11, 2023. The Town’s Revised Fee Estimate In its previous December 14, 2022 fee estimate, the Town states that “the only individual at the L & W bonded is [the] L & W General Manager ... which would go back to 2010 and some of those records would be upstairs and others downstairs at the L & W department.” In its December 14th response, the Town also indicates that it is charging a rate of $25.00 per hour, and indicates that this amount is less than “the hourly rate of the lowest paid person capable of locating the responsive records.” The Town also explains that it has a population of less than 20,000 persons, and may therefore assess a fee for the first two hours. In its revised January 9, 2023 fee estimate, the Town indicates the storage locations of the responsive records for each year and the amount of time required to search each location. In its further revised January 11, 2023 fee estimate, following Mr. Drury’s clarification, the Town reduced the amount of time to search each location. Specifically, the Town indicates it will require 0.2 hours each to search records for 2018 and 2019, and 0.67 hours each to search records for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022, providing a total search time of 2.4 hours, at a total cost of $60.00. In light of the Town’s January 11th response, I find the Town has met its burden to explain how it has provided a reasonable fee estimate for the production of records responsive to the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d) (a records access officer may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record). Conclusion As set forth above, I find the Town has met its burden in responding to Mr. Drury’s request at this time. Any further revision to the request would result in the requirement to issue a revised fee estimate. Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Steven R. Drury