O’Connor, Beth v. Steamship Authority (SPR 20260544)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records March 2, 2026 SPR26/0544 Sean F. Driscoll Communications Director Steamship Authority 228 Palmer Avenue Falmouth, MA 02540 Dear Mr. Driscoll: I have received the petition of Beth O’Connor appealing the response of the Steamship Authority (Authority) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66 § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On December 31, 2025, Ms. O’Connor requested, “copies of all email and text correspondence involving SSA personnel, SSA Board members and Port Council members related to the OIG report for the period of December 18, 2025 through current[.] Please include all BCC designees as [an identified individual] is on record as stating that is one of his workarounds to the Open Meeting Law.” The Town responded on January 26, 2026, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the response, Ms. O’Connor petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR26/0544, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates – Agencies An agency 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). Agencies may not assess a fee for the first four (4) hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ii). Where appropriate, agencies 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. A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting 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

Sean Driscoll SPR26/0544 Page 2 March 2, 2026 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 Authority’s January 26th Fee Estimate In a January 26, 2026 fee estimate, the Authority provided a fee estimate of $1,168.33 and provided the following table: # of files # of Pages Hours of review Price Final price (1 min/pg) @$25/hour (4 fours free) Emails 264 849 14.2 $ 353.75 Attachments – PDF 77 1622 27.0 $ 675.83 Attachments - Word 11 407 6.8 Other files 166 166 2.8 $ 69.17 TOTALS 518 3044 50.7 $ 1,268.33 $1,168.33 G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) provides that “[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days under [G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)].” In this case, where Ms. O’Connor submitted her request on December 31, 2025 and the Authority provided a fee estimate on January 26, 2026, I find it is unclear whether the Authority complied with G. L. c. 66, § 10(e). Specifically, in order to assess fees, the Authority must demonstrate whether it provided a response to Ms. O’Connor’s request under G. L. c. 66, § 10(b) within 10 business days of receipt of the request. Conclusion Accordingly, the Authority is ordered to provide Ms. O’Connor 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. Ms. O’Connor 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: Beth O’Connor