Jeffrey Allard v. Monson, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20251373)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records May 23, 2025 SPR25/1373 Mary F. Watson Town Clerk Town of Monson 110 Main Street Monson, MA 01057 Dear Ms. Watson: I have received the petition of Jeffrey Allard, of Black Fang Consulting, appealing the response of the Town of Monson (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On April 26, 2025, Mr. Allard requested, “… all recordings and documents that are part of the record from the ZBA meeting of 4/24/25 and 3/27/25 and the Planning Board meeting of 4/18/23.” The Town responded on May 12, 2025. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Allard petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/1373, 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

Mary F. Watson SPR25/1373 Page 2 May 23, 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 May 12th Response In its May 12, 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 locate records responsive to the request. The Town assessed an hourly rate of $25.00, and confirmed that this was based on the rate of the lowest paid employee with the skill necessary to respond to the request. 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. The Town must provide additional information regarding the tasks 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). 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 May 12, 2025 estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages Mr. Allard 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. Allard 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. Allard may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Mary F. Watson SPR25/1373 Page 3 May 23, 2025 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Jeffrey Allard