Catherine Foster v. Adams, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20240770)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records March 26, 2024 SPR24/0770 Haley Meczywor Town Clerk Town of Adams 9 Park Street Adams, MA 01220 Dear Ms. Meczywor: I have received the petition of Catherine Foster appealing the response of the Town of Adams (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 9, 2024, Ms. Foster requested, “copies of any written communications, including by text, between [a named individual] and any of the other person or people, concerning Adams Ambulance[.]” On February 25, 2024, the Town responded, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Ms. Foster petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/0770, was opened as a result. Fees - Municipalities 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. 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) 2 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 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

Haley Meczywor SPR24/0770 Page 2 March 26, 2024 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 how 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). The Town’s February 25th response In its February 25, 2024 response, the Town provided a fee estimate of $90.00 and stated, “3 hours of staff time will be needed, at a cost of $20 an hour, and 150 pages must be copied at 20 cents per page.” Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, on March 16, 2024, the Town sent an email to this office and stated the following: We estimate that it will take 4 hours of time from an employee who is qualified in handling confidential material and who is paid more than the $20 an hour we have asked from Ms. Foster. We have asked Ms. Foster to pay for the cost of the flash drive ($9.02) and an additional $80 for the labor cost before this work is done. The reason it does take so much time is because, in order to accommodate Ms. Foster’s request, the employee will have to redact material not relevant to [Ms.] Foster’s request (and are not public records) and re-scan the redacted material on to the flash drive. There are about 150 pages of documents that must be reviewed. Although the Town has estimated that the process of compiling, reviewing, and preparing requested records requires 4 hours to produce responsive records, it is not clear from the Town’s estimate how much time is allocated to search, and how much time is allocated for segregation and/or redaction of the records. Further, the Town must provide additional information regarding the tasks involved in producing these records. Accordingly, the Town must provide further details regarding its fee estimate. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Additionally, the Town must clarify if the 4 hours includes the first free 2 hours to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce records. Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first (two) 2 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). I encourage Ms. Foster and the Town to communicate in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably. Ms. Foster may wish to narrow the parameters or include applicable time periods or factors to enable the search to be processed. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(i). The

Haley Meczywor SPR24/0770 Page 3 March 26, 2024 Town must use its knowledge of the records to facilitate providing any responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(vii) (an agency or municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Foster with a response to the request, provided 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 the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Catherine Foster Ed St. John III, Esq.