Thomas Manning v. Lynnfield, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20253543)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 16, 2025 SPR25/3543 Thomas A. Mullen, Esq. Town Counsel Town of Lynnfield 55 Summer Street Lynnfield, MA 01940 Dear Attorney Mullen: I have received the petition of Thomas Manning appealing the response of the Town of Lynnfield to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On September 29, 2025, Mr. Manning requested “public records related to the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC) that are not posted on the TSAC section of the Town website.” Mr. Manning specifically noted that his request includes the following: [1] The approved meeting minutes for each meeting from September 2024 to the present. [2] The posted agendas for each meeting from September 2024 to the present, with time and date stamps. [3] Meeting documents and exhibits used or referenced in each meeting and identified as to the meeting they were used or referenced from September 2024 to the present. [4] Any communications or documents sent to a quorum of meeting members not used or referenced in any meeting. The Town responded on October 8, 2025, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Manning petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/3543, 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 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

Thomas A. Mullen, Esq. SPR25/3543 Page 2 December 16, 2025 ($.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 October 8th Response In its October 8, 2025 response, the Town provided a fee estimate of $300 to produce the responsive records. In support of its fee estimate, the Town stated: Your fourth request will require examination of all emails received by TSAC members from Town sources to determine whether (a) a quorum of them received the same documents or communications and (b) whether such documents or communications were used in a meeting. That double determination has to be done by trained IT professionals under contract with the Town, as the Town has no one on staff who is capable of performing it. The regulations of the Supervisor of Public Records permit a records access officer, such as the Town Clerk, to assess a reasonable fee for the production of public records, including the actual cost of reproduction, and the time spent for compiling, segregating, redacting and reproducing requested records, charged at the hourly rate of the lowest-paid employee capable of performing the task (subject to a limit of $25 per hour)... The Town of Lynnfield, with a population of just 12,968 according to the 2020 decennial census, may charge for all hours so spent… The Town anticipates that responding to your request will require, at a minimum, the efforts of the Town’s IT professionals for 2 hours with respect to each of the 6 members of the TSAC other than you. Their hourly rates considerably exceed $25 per hour and thus under the above-cited regulations the Town would charge $25 per hour for their services. The Town thus estimates, conservatively and in good faith, that the cost of complying with your request will be $300.

Thomas A. Mullen, Esq. SPR25/3543 Page 3 December 16, 2025 Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Manning requested a fee waiver and argued that the responsive documents should already be publicly available. Mr. Manning also alleges the Town’s response poses potential violations of the Open Meeting Law. 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 states that it will take 12 hours to search for the responsive records, it is unclear why the Town requires this much time. In this case, the Town appears not to be charging a fee for segregation or redaction and has confirmed that an hourly rate of $25.00 is less than the hourly rate of the lowest paid individual with the skill necessary to perform those tasks. The Town has also confirmed it has a population less than 20,000 residents. However, the Town must provide additional explanation of why 2 hours of search time is required for each of the 6 TSAC members 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 $300.00 is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages Mr. Manning and the Town to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. Mr. Manning 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.

Thomas A. Mullen, Esq. SPR25/3543 Page 4 December 16, 2025 Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Manning 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. Manning may appeal the substantive nature of the Authority’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Thomas Manning