George and Jen Burden v. Lunenburg, Town of (SPR 20243454)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records January 8, 2025 SPR24/3454 Carter Terenzini Interim Town Manager Town of Lunenburg 17 Main Street Lunenburg, MA 01462 Dear Mr. Terenzini: I have received the petition of Jen and George Burden appealing the response of the Town of Lunenburg (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On October 8, 2024, Mr. and Ms. Burden requested: [A] copy of all pages of the passbook and/or all bank statements to the tri-party bank account that you, as the Treasurer of Lunenburg, are required to hold in the event of a failure to the wastewater system of the Village at Flat Hill homeowners association. The requirement for you to hold the account is per the permit issued by the Town of Lunenburg for the development of the homeowners association. Previous Appeal This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR24/3363 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (December 27, 2024). In my December 27th Determination, I found it unclear whether the Town possessed additional responsive records. The Town responded on December 30, 2024, providing records responsive to the request and confirming no additional records exist. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. and Ms. Burden appealed, and this case, SPR24/3454, was opened as a result. Subsequently, the Town provided a supplemental response on December 31, 2024. 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 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

Carter Terenzini SPR24/3454 Page 2 January 8, 2025 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. The Town’s December 30th and December 31st responses In its December 30, 2024 response, the Town provided records responsive to the request. The Town states, “[w]e have now provided you with all of the documents that the Staff has been able to locate - after several efforts - that are responsive to your request. There are no other documents thought to exist and we have exhausted the source locations we are aware of. We now leave it in the hands of the Supervisor of the Records.” In its December 31, 2024 response to this office, the Town states, “I have looked at the vault again … but we [have] found nothing other than the other one we had provided…. We have now provided, in several transmissions, all of the documents that we have we believe might be responsive to the requester. I can only repeat what I have told the requesting party on several occasions now which is: To the best of their knowledge, there are no further documents thought to exist. We have exhausted the source locations we are aware of.” Further in its December 31st response, the Town confirmed that it provided all records responsive to the request. Conclusion Where the Town confirmed that it does not possess additional records responsive to Mr. and Ms. Burden’s request, and has no duty to create records responsive to the request, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. If Mr. and Ms. Burden is not satisfied with the resolution of this administrative appeal, please be advised that this office shares jurisdiction with the Superior Court of the Commonwealth. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(b)(ix), 10A(c) (pursuing administrative appeal does not limit availability of judicial remedies).

Carter Terenzini SPR24/3454 Page 3 January 8, 2025 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Jen and George Burden