Andrew Rovan v. Stow, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20253425)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 4, 2025 SPR25/3425 Denise M. Dembkoski Town Administrator Town of Stow 380 Great Road Stow, MA 01775 Dear Ms. Dembkoski: I have received the petition of Andrew Rovan appealing the response of the Town of Stow (Town) to two (2) requests for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On October 23, 2025, Mr. Rovan requested the following: Request 1 [1] The full draft and approved unredacted minutes of the October 21, 2025 Conservation Commission meeting; [2] Any and all audio or video recording of that meeting; and [3] Any closed-captioning or transcript file generated automatically or manually for accessibility, including but not limited to .vtt, .srt, .txt, or .doc formats created by Zoom, Teams, or other software used to host the meeting; and [4] The attendance log and agenda for that meeting. [5] Any and all attachments, exhibits, or supporting documents referenced during open session. [6] Any and all internal staff memos or email correspondence prepared for or following that meeting concerning the agenda item “...Great Road – Discussion.” Request 2 [1] Any and all staff memos, reports, legal opinions, or correspondence prepared for or discussed during any executive session of the October 21, 2025 Conservation Commission meeting; [2] Any and all letters, memos, or emails between Town Counsel, Select Board, and the Conservation Commission or staff concerning that session; and [3] Any and all attachments or exhibits referenced therein. 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

Denise M. Dembkoski SPR25/3425 Page 2 December 4, 2025 [4] Any and all executive session minutes of the Stow Conservation Commission for its October 21, 2025 meeting, including any notes, votes to enter executive session, number of members present, number of votes taken, the number voting in favor and opposed, the names of members voting each way, and any roll-call or notation of abstentions. Provide all required documentation of the stated purposed under M. G. L. c. 30A, §21(a). If such minutes are currently withheld on the basis that the related purposes still exists (e.g., pending litigation, collective bargaining, or similar exemption) please provide: [1] A written statement citing the specific clause of §21(a) relied upon, and [2] The date on which the Commission last reviewed the minutes for possible release, as required by law. The Town responded on November 5, 2025, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Rovan petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/3425, 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 2 (two) 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). 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 November 5th Response In its November 5, 2025 response, the Town provided links to responsive records and stated:

Denise M. Dembkoski SPR25/3425 Page 3 December 4, 2025 As to the First Request, as of the date of your request, meeting minutes of the October 21, 2025, Conservation Commission meeting have not yet been approved. I have attached the draft minutes… Because the Commission met via Zoom, it did not create an attendance log for the Meeting As to the Second Request referenced above, the Town does not have any responsive records, as the Commission did not hold any executive session on October 21, 2025. In addition, the Town assessed a fee of $50.00 to provide additional records responsive to Request 1. In support of its fee estimate the Town stated: It is estimated that it will cost $50.00 to search for and locate records responsive to Request 1... That amount is based on estimated employee search time of two (2) hours, times an hourly rate of $25.00 per hour. The employee search time quoted above is charged at the hourly rate of the lowest paid person capable of searching for the responsive records… The searches will be conducted in this instance by the Town’s Conservation Director… Please note that because the Town has a population less than 20,000 residents (approx. 7,200) as of the most recent Decennial U.S. Census, you will be charged for the first two hours of work associated with these requests. Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Rovan seeks a fee waiver and argues that the Town’s response improperly consolidated the requests. 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).

Denise M. Dembkoski SPR25/3425 Page 4 December 4, 2025 Mr. Rovan is reminded that a requestor may not divide a request into multiple parts in order to circumvent the fees allowed by the Public Records Law. However, where the Town stated that it possesses no records responsive to Request 2, and where the fee estimate only applies to Request 1, I find that this portion of Mr. Rovan’s appeal is resolved. Reasonableness of the Fee Estimate Although the Town stated it will take 2 hours to search for and compile the responsive records, it is unclear why the Town requires this much time. In this case, the Town has confirmed that an hourly rate of $25.00 is equal to or less than the hourly rate of the lowest paid individual with the skill necessary to perform those tasks and appears to not be charging a fee for segregation or redaction. The Town has also confirmed it has a population less than 20,000 residents. However, the Town must explain why 2 hours of search time is required to produce the responsive records and describe the task(s) involved in the search process. 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). For the reasons discussed above, I find the Town must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee estimate of $50.00 is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages Mr. Rovan and the Town to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. Mr. Rovan may wish to narrow his request. 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. Rovan with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten (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. Mr. Rovan may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Andrew Rovan