James Carver v. Westwood, Town of - Fire Department (SPR 20251197)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records May 14, 2025 SPR25/1197 Imelda Cabey Office Manager Westwood Fire Department 637 High Street Westwood, MA 02090 Dear Ms. Cabey: I have received the petition of James Carver appealing the response of the Westwood Fire Department (Department) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On April 14, 2025, Mr. Carver requested maintenance records for all Department apparatus for the past five years, including: [1.] Records of repairs, servicing, and upkeep [2.] Expenses associated with these maintenance activities. On April 24, 2025, the Department responded, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Mr. Carver petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/1197, was opened as a result. Fees Estimates - 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 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

Imelda Cabey SPR25/1197 Page 2 May 14, 2025 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 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 Department’s April 24th response In its April 24, 2025 response, the Department provided a fee estimate of $500.00 and stated the following: Hours required to complete the request … 20 Hourly rate (lowest hourly rate of person completing request not to exceed $25): Total Search Fees: $500.00 (Hours required to search/segregate/redact): 20 Hourly rate (at the lowest hourly rate of person completing request & no more than $25): Total search/segregate and/or redact Fees:$500.00 Explanation: Most of the documents you are requesting are paper copy in storage. We will have to search each years records of payments and work orders performed on each piece of apparatus. Total Written Cost Good Faith Estimate: $500.00 Although the Department appears to be assessing fees for a total of 20 hours to produce responsive records, it is unclear why the Department requires this much time to search, segregate and redact the responsive records. Particularly, it is unclear how many records the Department intends to redact and the number of pages there are. It is additionally uncertain how many minutes per page the Department requires to review the responsive records. The Department must provide additional information regarding the tasks involved in the search process. Accordingly, the Department must provide further details regarding its fee estimate. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Further, based on the Department’s response, I find the Department must clarify whether the redactions included in its fee estimate are required by law, and state the applicable statutes, if any. The Department is advised that, pursuant to the Public Records Law, a fee may 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)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The Department must clarify this.

Imelda Cabey SPR25/1197 Page 3 May 14, 2025 I encourage Mr. Carver and the Department to communicate further in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably. Mr. Carver may wish to narrow the parameters or include factors to enable the search to be processed. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(i). The Department 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 Department 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 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: James Carver