James Carver v. Westwood, Town of - Clerk's Office (SPR 20251105)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records May 2, 2025 SPR25/1105 Dottie Powers Town Clerk Town of Westwood 580 High Street Westwood, MA 02090 Dear Ms. Powers: I have received the petition of James Carver appealing the response of the Town of Westwood (Westwood) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On April 13, 2025, Mr. Carver requested, “Westwood Fire Department’s current training schedule or training plan, including any documents outlining training programs, schedules, or certifications for department personnel.” The Town responded on April 15, 2025. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Carver petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/1105, was opened as a result. 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 (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 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). 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

Dottie Powers SPR25/1105 Page 2 May 2, 2025 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 April 15th Response In its April 15, 2025 response, the Town assessed a fee of $50.00 to provide responsive records. The Town estimated that it would require two hours of staff time to respond to the request, at a rate of $25.00 per hour. Fee Waivers G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(v) provides the following with respect to waiving a fee for the production of responsive records: the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee charged under this subsection upon a showing that disclosure of a requested record is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor, or upon a showing that the requestor lacks the financial ability to pay the full amount of the reasonable fee. Please be advised, although the Supervisor may encourage fees to be waived, the Supervisor may not mandate that a records access officer waive fees assessed for complying with a public records request; rather, as described above, the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee upon a showing of various factors. See G. L. c. 66, § 10 (d)(v); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(k). Reasonableness of the Fee Estimate Although the Town has estimated that the process of compiling, reviewing, and preparing responsive documents for production will take 2 hours of employee time, the Town has not provided sufficient explanation of why this amount of employee time is necessary. Specifically, the Town must advise how many hours it requires to search and how many hours it requires to segregate and redact the records in order to comply with the records request, and what tasks are necessary to produce the responsive records. The Town must also clarify whether it is a municipality of 20,000 people or less and thus permitted to assess a fee for the first 2 hours of employee time spent responding to the request, pursuant to G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). Further, the Town must clarify whether $25.00 per hour is the hourly rate of the lowest paid employee who has the skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact, or reproduce the requested records.

Dottie Powers SPR25/1105 Page 3 May 2, 2025 For the reasons discussed above, I find the Town must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee of $50.00 assessed in its April 15, 2025 estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages Mr. Carver and the Town to communicate further in order to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (a 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 municipality to produce the records sought more efficiently and affordably). Any revision to the request would result in the requirement to issue a revised fee estimate. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Carver with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten 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. Mr. Carver may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: James Carver