Masse, Nick v. North Reading, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20260973)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records March 31, 2026 SPR26/0973 Susan Duplin Town Clerk Town of North Reading 235 North Street North Reading, MA 01864 Dear Ms. Duplin: I have received the petition of Nick Masse appealing the response of the Town of North Reading (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 28, 2026, Mr. Masse requested, “[a] list of town-owned land sold within the last 40 years. Please indicate the property address, the acreage, buildable lot or not, the year it was sold, the price sold at, the buyer’s name, and if through RFP process or auction.” On February 17, 2026, Mr. Masse modified his request as follows: A municipality isn’t allowed to charge or require payment from a Selectman requesting information, am I wrong? If you require it to come from my Town email, I am happy to do so. [I]f the above is incorrect, I would like to refine my request below, to make the efforts on the Town easier. Please filter this request by only the [identified last name]. So instead of all town land sold in the last 35 years, just filter it by the [identified last name], the property purchased and what year. The Town responded on February 11, 2026 and February 23, 2026. Unsatisfied with the responses, Mr. Masse petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR26/0973, was opened as a result. Status of Requestor Please note that the reason for which a requestor seeks access to or a copy of a public record does not afford any greater right of access to the requested information than other persons in the general public. The Public Records Law does not distinguish between requestors. Access to a record pursuant to the Public Records Law rests on the content of the record and not the 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

Susan Duplin SPR26/0973 Page 2 March 31, 2026 circumstances of the requestor. See Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass. 59, 64 (1976). Accordingly, Mr. Masse’s status will play no role in a determination as to whether the records should be disclosed or withheld under the Public Records Law. 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 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 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.

Susan Duplin SPR26/0973 Page 3 March 31, 2026 Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Masse contends: [The Town] ha[s] now exceeded the 10 days by law to respond. . . . . . . Furthermore, I am an elected Selectman in North Reading, and the Town Administrator signed a letter that requested me to pay $1,200 for a record, which Ive [sic] come to understand that municipalities cannot charge a Selectman for information on the municipality. The Town’s February 11th Fee Estimate and February 23rd Response On February 11, 2026, the Town assessed a fee of $1,125 in response to Mr. Masse’s January 28th request. The Town provided the following information in support of its fee estimate: Based on the Town’s initial diligent work on this request, the Town can confirm it does not have a list with all of the categories of information you are seeking. The Town can provide you with the attached list of foreclosures maintained by the Treasurer. Additional real estate information responsive to your request is available to members of the public at no charge in the Town’s annual reports, available online by year at [a specified hyperlink]. To the extent you are seeking further information or records, given the volume of documentation requested and the lengthy time frame at issue, please see below fee estimate for the forty (40) years of records you have requested. Fee Estimate[:] As permitted by law, you will be charged for employee search time at the hourly rate of the lowest paid person capable of compiling, segregating, redacting, and reproducing responsive records, in accordance with 950 CMR 32.07(2)(i). The fee estimate for your request is broken down as follows: The Town Administrator’s Administrative Assistant will need to coordinate the search for all responsive electronic and paper records for decades and locate same, which will be approximately 45 hours in total. The lowest paid employee capable of performing the necessary work makes in excess of $25/hour, which has been reduced to $25/hour, for a total of $1,125. In the event that the best way to produce a large quantity of records is to provide them on a USB Drive, you will be charged for the cost of the USB Drive. Additionally, if there are any responsive records that do not exist in electronic format and that may only be redacted manually and not electronically (and thus must be printed prior to redaction), copying charges will apply at the rate of $0.05

Susan Duplin SPR26/0973 Page 4 March 31, 2026 per page. Upon receipt of payment in the amount of $1,125 made payable to the Town of North Reading directed to the attention of the Town Clerk, the Town will begin the requested work necessary to comply with your Request. . . . If the Town redacts or otherwise withholds the responsive records, the Town will provide a supplemental response setting forth the applicable exemptions and any additional costs incurred. Given the significant volume of records at issue, it is presently anticipated that the Town will need the maximum amount of time permitted by law to comply with the Request. . . . North Reading has fewer than 20,000 residents as of the last U.S. decennial census and therefore, you will be charged for all employee time necessary to respond to this request. In its February 23, 2026 response to Mr. Masse’s modified request, the Town stated, “[r]eceived, let me see what I can obtain for you.” Timeliness in Providing Records G. L. c. 66, § 10(b) provides, in pertinent part, that if the magnitude or difficulty of the request unduly burdens the other responsibilities of the agency or municipality such that the agency or municipality cannot provide records within 10 business days, the agency or municipality must inform the requestor in writing within 10 business days. With respect to the timeframe to produce responsive records, the written response shall: identify a reasonable timeframe in which the agency or municipality shall produce the public records sought; provided, that for an agency, the timeframe shall not exceed 15 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records and for a municipality the timeframe shall not exceed 25 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records; and provided further, that the requestor may voluntarily agree to a response date beyond the timeframes set forth herein. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vi). Where Mr. Masse modified his request on February 17, 2026, it is unclear why the Town has not provided the responsive records. 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). Custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requestors in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5); see also G. L. c. 66, § 10(a) (records must be provided

Susan Duplin SPR26/0973 Page 5 March 31, 2026 without unreasonable delay). To the extent possible, the Town must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Masse 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. Masse may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Nick Masse