Meehan, Kelly v. Bridgewater, Town of - Office of the Town Manager (SPR 20260971)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records March 30, 2026 SPR26/0970; SPR26/0971 Justin Casanova-Davis Town Manager Town of Bridgewater 66 Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 Dear Mr. Casanova-Davis: I have received the petitions of Kelly Meehan appealing the response of the Town of Bridgewater (Town) to two requests for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). SPR26/0970 On February 1, 2026, Ms. Meehan requested, “the department sign off sheet for the permit application for the Broad Street project.” The Town responded on February 12, 2026 and March 2, 2026. Unsatisfied with the responses, Ms. Meehan petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR26/0970, was opened as a result. SPR26/0971 On March 3, 2026, Ms. Meehan requested, “all used names, User Id’s, [e]mails that accessed the . . . Broad street permit for all departments.” The Town responded on March 4, 2026 and March 17, 2026. Unsatisfied with the responses, Ms. Meehan petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR26/0971, was opened as a result. Subsequently, the Town provided a supplemental response on March 25, 2026. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). “Public 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

Justin Casanova-Davis SPR26/0970; SPR26/0971 Page 2 March 30, 2026 records” is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any agency or municipality of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. 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. The Town’s Responses SPR26/0970 In its February 12, 2026 response, the Town provided responsive records and stated, “[p]lease see the attached department sign offs for . . . Broad Street, along with the associated building permits. For further information regarding each permit, please visit the Town of Bridgewater Online Permitting Public Viewing page on the town website. All Permits since 2013 are online and are available for public viewing. To access “public viewing” of all permits filed since 2013, click here: https://permiteyes.us/bridgewater/publichome.php.” In a February 27, 2026 email to the Town, Ms. Meehan stated, “I would like the actual signatures of who signed off in each department for the Broad Street Project.” In its March 2, 2026 response, the Town stated, “[a]ll permit sign offs are handled electronically through our online permitting system. You have been provided with all available information regarding this request.” In a March 2, 2026 email to the Town, Ms. Meehan stated, “I am requesting ‘who’ in each department clicked the ‘approved’ button for the Broad Street permit…” SPR26/0971 In its March 4, 2026 response, the Town stated, “[w]e are in receipt of your Public Records Request that was received on March 3. Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate staff for review and response…”

Justin Casanova-Davis SPR26/0970; SPR26/0971 Page 3 March 30, 2026 In its March 17, 2026 response, the Town stated, “…the Town has conducted a search for records responsive to your request. Please be advised that the Town does not maintain records responsive to your request, and no such records exists.” Current Appeal In her appeal to this office, Ms. Meehan stated, “I am looking for “who” in the water department signed the building permit for . . . Broad Street without a water impact study during a water emergency. They sent me the building permits with a checkmark for approval. I then asked for who and they said they couldn’t provide that. I then asked for username or email for the ‘person’ who clicked approved in the online permitting system. I would like an individual name. If you are in the online permitting system you should have a log in to show who you are.” In its March 25, 2026 response, the Town stated, “…please see the attached correspondence documenting the IT Department’s efforts to identify and produce responsive records. The Town has conducted a reasonable search and has provided all records located that are responsive to the requests, also attached. No additional records responsive to these requests were identified.” In a March 25, 2026 email to this office and the Town, Ms. Meehan stated, “[a]n activity was performed when a human ‘clicked’ approved within the system. Who is the person/user id/email that clicked approve’?” No Duty to Create Records; No Duty to Answer Questions Please be advised, under the Public Records Law, a custodian is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d). In addition, a public employee is not required to answer questions, or do research, or create documents in response to questions. See 32 Op. Att’y Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977). The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). Conclusion Given that the Town has confirmed that it does not possess any additional records responsive to Ms. Meehan’s requests and has no duty to answer questions, I will now consider these administrative appeals closed. If Ms. Meehan is not satisfied with the resolution of the administrative appeals, please be advised that this office shares jurisdiction with the Superior Court of the Commonwealth. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(b)(ix), 10A(c) (pursuing administrative appeal does not limit availability of judicial remedies).

Justin Casanova-Davis SPR26/0970; SPR26/0971 Page 4 March 30, 2026 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Kelly Meehan