HomeMy Public PortalAboutordinance 03:28Councilman Presents the following Ordinance Seconded by Councilman
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING & SUPPLEMENTING ARTICLE VI
"PUBLIC RECORDS" OF CHAPTER 4 ENTITLED
"ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT" OF THE CODE OF
THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET
BE IT ORDAINED by the Mayor and Borough Council of the Borough of
Carteret, a municipal corporation of the State of New Jersey, located in Middlesex
County, thereof, as follows:
Section 1. Article VI, "Public Records", of Chapter 4 of the Carteret Code
entitled "Administration of Government ", is hereby deleted in its entirety and
replaced with the following:
Public Records
{}4-38. Purpose.
A. It is hereby declared to be the public policy of the Borough of Carteret to
recognize the public's general right to know pursuant to the Open Public Records
Act. All records kept in the course of official duties by any Borough of Carteret
officer or employee shall be deemed to be government records, as that term is
defined by N.J.S.A. 47:A-1.1, and such records shall be subject to inspection by
the public unless exempt under federal or state statutes, laws, or other regulations,
common law practice, executive order of the Governor, Rules of Court or judicial
decisi'on; this article was established to comply with the mandate of N.J.S.A.
47:A-1 et seq., known as the Open Public Records Act, including that portion of
the law permitting the establishment of charges/fees, not otherwise provided for,
to be imposed and associated with the reproduction of said records.
B. The Borough recognizes the fact that the daily operation of the various
departments regularly involves the distribution of public records, as the term is
defined by state law, to the public, and that it would be inefficient to require that
all requests be submitted to the Borough Clerk. In an effort to make records
available within the time frames specified by the law, the Borough will continue
this policy in addition to the procedure provided by this article.
NO. 03-28 PAOE 2 of 6
§4-39. Definititions
As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
GOVERNMENT RECORDS(S) or RECORD(S)--Any information subject to
public inspection which is maintained by the Borough of Carteret in written,
audio, video, electronic or other form and as defined by the Open Public Records
Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.
SPECIAL SERVICE CHARGE-A charge, in addition to the actual cost of
duplicating the government record(s), which shall reflect the expense associated
with extensive use of the Borough's information technology or resources or the
extensive clerical or supervisory assistance by Borough of Carteret personnel
which is necessary to accommodate a request for government records and as
defined by the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5c and 47:1A-5d.
§4-40 Appointment.
There are hereby appointed the following Government Custodians of Public
Records of the Borough of Carteret, who shall be charged with the responsibility
of maintaining government records as defined by the laws of the State of New
Jersey.
A. The Municipal Clerk shall be the Custodian of Government Records for all
records of the municipality. The Municipal Clerk may designate Deputy
Custodian(s) of Government Records as may be appropriate with regard to the
type Of govemment record and/or the local government agency that generates or
maintains the same.
B. The Chief of Police of the Borough of Carteret shall be designated as Deputy
Custodian of the Government Records for documents pertaining to Police
Department matters within the jurisdiction of the Carteret Police Department.
C. The Custodian and the Deputy Custodian(s) of Government Records shall
familiarize themselves with the provisions of the applicable law pertaining to
records access and the exceptions contained therein. They shall also monitor
amendments to law pertaining to public records access, and shall be guided
accordingly in making determinations with respect to disclosure of government
records.
§4-41. Inspection and copying of public records.
A. Any person seeking to inspect, examine or copy a public record of this
municipality shall make application in writing to the Municipal Clerk, or other
custodian identified by this article, during regular business hours, on the form
provided. All requests for public records shall be as specific as possible,
including the type of record and date created, if know.
03-28 P^GE3 of 6
B. The Municipal Clerk or other custodian shall promptly comply with a request
to inspect, examine, copy or provide a copy of a government record. If the
custodian is unable to comply with a request for access, he or she shall indicate on
the request form the specific basis for such inability to comply and shall promptly
return it to the requestor. The custodian shall sign and date the form and provide
the requestor with a copy thereof.
C. In those instances where the nature of the request to the record itself leads the
custodian to doubt whether or not the record is a government record as defined by
law or is a record exempt from disclosure, the Clerk shall request an opinion form
the Borough Attorney. A copy of the request form shall be forwarded to the
attorney who, after review and investigation, shall issue an opinion and note such
opinion on the request form and promptly return it to the custodian.
D. If any part of a particular record is exempt from public assess pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., the custodian shall delete, redact or excise from a copy
of the record that portion which is exempt from access and shall promptly permit
access to the remainder of the record.
E. If the record requested is temporarily unavailable because it is in use or
storage, the custodian shall so advise the requestor and shall make arrangements
to make a copy of the record available.
F. If a request for access to a government record would substantially disrupt
municipal operations, the Clerk may deny access to the record after attempting to
reach a reasonable solution with the requestor that accommodates the interests of
the requestor and the municipality.
G. As required by N.J.S.A. 47:lA-5e, immediate access shall be granted for
access to budgets, bills, vouchers, contracts (including collective negotiations
agreements and individual employment contracts), and public salary and overtime
information.
{}4-42. Time limits for compliance.
Unless a shorter time period is otherwise provided by statute, regulation or
executive order, the Clerk shall grant access to a govermnent record or deny a
request for access to a record as soon as possible but not later than seven business
days after receiving the request, provided that the record is currently available and
not in storage or archived. In the event that the Clerk fails to respond within
seven business days after receiving a request, the failure to respond shall be
deemed a denial of the request, unless the requestor has elected not to provide a
name, address or telephone number, or other means of contacting the requestor. If
the requestor has elected not to provide an address, or telephone number, or other
means of contacting the requestor, the custodian shall not be required to respond
until the requestor reappears before the custodian seeking a response to the
NO. 03-28 PAGE 4 of 6
original request. If the government record is in storage or archived, the requestor
shall be so advised within seven business days after the custodian receives the
request. The requestor shall be advised by the custodian when the record can be
made available. If record is not made available by that time, access shall be
deemed denied.
{}4-43. Posting of appeals procedures.
The Clerk shall post prominently in public view, in or adjacent to the Clerk's
office, a statement that sets forth in clear, concise and specific terms the right to
appeal a denial or failure to provide access to government record and the
procedure by which an appeal may be filed.
{}4-44. Viewing of government records; removal prohibited.
A. Upon the approval of a request to view, inspect, examine or copy a record, the
record and the requestor shall remain in the presence of the custodian at all times.
Under no circumstances shall any government record be removed from the office
where it is normally kept unless accompanied by the custodian or his or her
authorized representative.
B. In the event that the nature of the request to view records requires that the
custodian or other municipal employee observe or monitor such viewing for a
period of time exceeding one hour, the requestor shall be responsible for
reimbursing the municipality for time spent by the custodian or other employee.
{}4-45. Copies to be made available; fee.
A. Except as may be otherwise provided by law or by other specific
ordinance, copies of government records as set forth in N.J.S.A. 47:lA-2
which are made, maintained or kept on file by the Borough of Carteret or
any of its officers or employees shall be made available and supplied by
the custodian thereof to any person requesting the same in accordance
with the following fees:
1. First page to l0th page: $0.75 per page
2. Eleventh page to 20t~ page: $0.50 per page
3. All pages over 20:$0.25 per page
4. Police accident reports: five dollars ($5.00) for the first three (3)
pages and one dollar ($1.00) for each page thereafter when a report
is ordered by mail; fifty cents ($.0.50) if purchased in person
during business hours.
NO. 03-28 PAGE 5 of 6
B. Whenever the nature, format, manner of c611ation or volume of a
govemment record embodied in the form of printed matter to be inspected,
examined, or copied pursuant to the Open Public Records Act (OPRA),
N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1. et seq., is such that the record cannot be reproduced by
ordinary document-copying equipment in ordinary business size or
involves an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort to accommodate
the request, including, but not limited to the retrieval of documents from
storage or which have been archived, the custodian of records, as defined
by OPRA, shall advise the requester of the estimate of charges for
obtaining a copy of said record(s), which shall include the actual cost of
duplicating the record(s) and a special service charge that shall be
reasonable and shall be based upon the actual direct cost of providing the
copy or copies. In the event the requester objects to the charge after
having reviewed the same, the custodian of records shall not incur said
charges until an agreement is reached between the requester and the
custodian of records.
C. In the event that an OPRA request involves the reproduction and/or
conversion of a government record from the medium in which the
document requested currently exists into a medium not routinely used by
the municipality, not routinely developed or maintained by the
municipality or requires a substantial amount of manipulation or
programming of information technology, the custodian of records shall
either convert the document into the medium requested or provide a copy
of the same in some other meaningful medium as provided by OPRA. In
the event that the requester refuses to accept a copy in some other
meaningful medium into which the municipality is able to convert the
document, the custodian of records shall advise the requester of the actual
cost of duplication. In addition to the actual cost of duplication, the
custodian of records may assess a special service charge that shall be
reasonable and shall be based on the cost for any extensive use of
information technology or for the labor cost of personel providing the
service that is actually incurred by the municipality or attributable to the
municipality for the programming, clerical and/or supervisory assistance
required or both. This section shall also apply to requests for documents
which the municipality is unable to reproduce in-house due to the
document's existing unusual size or medium, including but not limited to
blueprints, plans, film, slides, CD-ROMS and the like.
D. The custodian of records is authorized to solicit and receive estimates in
accordance with the Local Public Contracts Law from third-party
documents service providers to effectuate OPRA requests which fall with
in the scope of this article, and any estimates from said third-party service
providers shall be transmitted to the requester for his or her consideration
and review.
NO 03-28
PAGE 6 of 6
E. Where copies of a document are requested to be mailed, other than police
reports, fees for which are set by statute, there will be a minimum mailing
charge of $0.50 in addition to any copying charges. Additional mailing
charges will be assessed where the size or weight of the requested
document(s) so requires. In the event that a tape of a public meeting is to
be mailed, there shall be a postage and handling fee of $2 per tape.
F. A deposit shall be paid prior to fulfilling a request where it is estimated
that the records requested will cost in excess of $5 to reproduce. The
amount of the deposit shall equal the total estimated cost of fulfilling the
request.
G. Unless otherwise provided for by law or the specific provisions of this
ordinance, the fees charged for government documents shall be the actual
costs of reproduction of said document and shall be adopted by resolution
of the Borough Council, and are subject to change. The resolution
specifying the costs for these items will be posted next to the appeal notice
described above or in some other conspicuous place.
H. In the event that the requester of documents objects to any charges
~ permitted by this article and no resolution of the objection can be
!: reasonably accomplished, the custodian of records shall not incur any
charges on behalf of the municipality to fulfill the OPRA request.
'! Section 2. All Ordinances and/or provisions thereof inconsistent with the
provision of this Ordinance shall be and are hereby repealed as to the extent of
any such inconsistencies.
Section 3. If any section, subsection, part, clause or phrase of this Ordinance
shall be declared invalid by judgment of any Court of competent jurisdiction, the
section, subsection, part, clause or phrase shall be deemed to be sever able from
the remainder of this Ordinance.
Section 4. This Ordinance shall take effect upon passage and publication
according to applicable law.
DO NOT USE SPACE BELOW THIS LINE
RECORD OF COUNCIL VOTE
COUNCILMAN ] YES NO NV I A.B. COUNCILMAN YES NO NV A.B.
KRIJM X RIOS X
NAPLES X S ITARZ X
PARISI X
SOSNOWSKI X
X - Indicate Vote AB - Absent NV - Not Voting XOR - Indicates Vote to Overrule Veto c.p
Adopted on first reading of the Couacil of the Borough of Carteret, N.J,. on Au~;ust 14, 2003
Adopted on second reading after hearing on September 4 ~ 2003
Affidavit of Publication
Publisher's Fee $291.28Affidavit Charge $20.00
State of New Jersey } ss.
MIDDLESEX COUNTY
Personally appeared LINDA DIAZ '~ '~-
of the Home l~ews Tribune, a newspaper printed In Freehold, NJ and published In NEPTUNE, In said
County and State, and of general circulation In said county, who being duly sworn, deposeth and salth
that the advertisement of which the annexed Is a true copy, has been published In the said newspaper
1 [ONE) times, once In each Issue, as follows
T^DV OllOI
MY COMMISS~4)~IRES OCT. 2, 2005
'~,.~ ~'~_~_~' //~)/J'q/~-'~ z~ Sworn and subscrll~ before me this
20th day of August, A.D., 2003
1
I%tary F;ubli~ of New Jersey
BOROUGH OF CARTERET b,~ty of maintaining ........ t ..... ds as defined
ORDINANCE#03-28 ~ The Municipal Clerk shall be the Custodian of
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING & SUPPLEMENT- pality+ The Municipal Clerk ma designate Deputy
lNG ARTICLE VI "PUBLIC RECORDS" OF Custodian(s) of Government ~ecords as may be
CHAPTER 4 ENTITLED "ADMINISTRATION OF
GOVERNMENT" OF THE CODE OF THE BOR- appropriate with regard to the type of government
OUGH OF CARTERET record and/or the local government agency that
BE IT ORDAINED by the Mayor and Borough Coun- ~. The Chief of Police of the Borough of Carteret
C. The Custodian and the Deputy Custodian(s of
limited to blue tints, plans, film, slides, CD
cess sha be g anted o access to budgets, bills, ROMS and the I?~.e.
vouchers, contracts (including collective negotia-
tions agreements and individual employment con- D, The custodian of records is authorized to solicit
t ac s) and ublic salary and overtime mtormation, and receive estimates in accordance with the
Loca Public Contracts Law from third-party doc-
~4-42, Time I~imits for compliance. ' d uments service providers to effectuate OPRA
Un ess a shorter time period ~s otherwise provide
b statute, regulation or executive order, the Clerk e~uests which fall with in the scope of this
s~all grant access to a government record or deny art cie and any estimates from said third party
a request for access to a record as soon as possible serviCerequesterproviderSfor his orShaherbeconsiderationransmittea andt° there
but not later than seven business days after receiv-
ng the request prov ded that the record is current- view
y available and not in storage or archived, In the E. Where copies of a document are requested to be
event that the Clerk a s to respond within seven ma ed, other than police reports, fees for which
business days after receiving a request, the failure are set by statute, there will be a minimum
to respond shall be deemed a denial of the request, ma ng charge o $050 in addition to any copy-
unless the requestor has elected not to provide a ng charges Additional mailing charges will be
name address or telephone number, or other assessed where the size or weight of the re-
uested document s) so requires, In the event
means of contact ng the requestor. If the requestor t°~at a tape o a pub c meeting is to be mailed,
has e acted not to provide an address, or telephone
numbe or other means of contacting the request there shall be a postage and handling fee of $2
or, the custodian shell not be required to respond per tape.
until the equestor reappears before the custodian F. A deposit shall be paid prior to fulfilling a request
seeking a response to the original request, If the where it is estimated that the records requested
government record s n storage or archived, the will cost in excess of $5 to reproduce. The
requesto shaft be so advised within seven business amount of the deposit shall equal the total
est mated cost of fulfil[in the request.
days after the custodian receives the request, The G Un ess otherwise provi~Jged for by law or the
requestor sba be advised by the custodian when s ecific provisions of this ordinance, the fees
the record can be made available. If record is not c~arged or government documents shall be the
made available by that time, access shall be actual costs of reproduction o sad document
deemed denied, and shall be adopted by resolution of the Bor