Gas leaks policies and data - Middlesex County (Dunstable Town Clerk (MA))
| Submitted | Jan. 5, 2017 |
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Communications
From: Beryl Lipton
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, §10, I hereby request the following records:
Any and all directive materials and data regarding the location and repair of gas leaks within this municipality.
Please include any ordinances, policies, procedures, or related materials regarding:
• the necessity of gas companies to report existing gas leaks to municipal officials
• the necessity of gas companies to survey areas for the existence of gas leaks
• the necessity of gas companies to repair known gas leaks
Please also include any data, statistics, maps, and other materials detailing the location and severity of known gas leaks in the areas under the jurisdiction of this municipality. Please include any data acquired from the Department of Public Utilities regarding gas leaks within this municipality.
Please include all requests from gas companies for construction and digging related to gas leaks.
Please include all requests for repair made by this municipality to companies regarding gas leaks. Please also provide all responses.
Please provide all data, statistics, maps, and other materials regarding the decay or destruction of trees and other foliage in relation to the presence of gas leaks.
If further clarification is necessary, please contact the MuckRock office at 617-299-1832.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.
I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Beryl Lipton
From: Carol Skerrett
Good afternoon. This is to inform you I am in receipt of your public records request for data regarding the location and repair of gas leaks, etc., Please be advised that I am not the Records Access Officer for these records and am forwarding your email to our Town Administrator, Tracey Hutton. Her email is listed above.
Regards,
Carol A. Skerrett
Town Clerk CMMC
511 Main Street
Dunstable, MA 01827
(978) 649-4514 x222
(978) 649-4371 (fax)
<http://www.dunstable-ma.gov/> www.dunstable-ma.gov
When responding, please be advised that email is considered is a public record by the Secretary of the Commonwealth
Town Clerk hours (see note below):
Monday 3:00 pm –7:30 pm
Tuesday and Thursday 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Wednesday 9:00 am –2:30 pm
There are times that I am out of the office during my posted hours, please feel free to call ahead.
Marriage licenses are by appointment.
<https://www.sec.state.ma.us/OVR/> Online Voter Registration in Massachusetts
From: Jacob Hamm
Beryl Lipton,
The Town of Dunstable is in receipt of your public records request. In the
process of reviewing your request we noticed that you did not specify a date
range for the public records you are seeking. Under Mass. Gen. Law Chp. 66,
§10 (vii) the town may, 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 agency or municipality to produce
records sought more efficiently and affordably. We therefore suggest that
a specified date range would be a reasonable modification that would allow
us to more efficiently and affordably produce the records which you are
seeking. Please let us know if you would be amenable to such a modification
to your request.
Respectfully,
Jake K Hamm, J.D.
Administrative Assistant
Board of Selectmen
511 Main Street
Dunstable, MA 01827-1313
978-649-4514 ext. 224
978-649-4371 fax
<http://www.dunstable-ma.gov/> www.dunstable-ma.gov
Most emails to and from municipal offices and officials are public record.
Confidentiality should not be expected. However, this email, and any
documents transmitted with it, may contain confidential or privileged
information. This information is only intended for use by the individual or
entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, be
aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of this information
is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify us by
returning this email or by calling us at the number listed above and then
deleting this email from your computer.
The
From: Dunstable Town Clerk (MA)
A fix is required to perfect the request.
From: Jacob Hamm
Beryl Lipton
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 31663
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516
Re: Public Records Request
This letter is in response to your public records request originally
received via email on January 5, 2017, as well as the phone
conversation we had with you on January 12, 2017. We are therefore
responding to your request in accordance with Mass. Gen.
Law, Chapter 66, §10. In accordance with statute those records which are
public, shall be provided without unreasonable delay
upon tender of a reasonable fee. According to guidance by the Secretary of
the Commonwealths office, public records access
regulations require that a detailed, written, good faith estimate of cost
for compliance be returned to the requesting party. It should
be noted that this cost may vary once the work is begun to prepare the
record. Requirement for payment for the work as estimated
prior to commencement of the work is permissible and allowable under law.
Having a population less than 20,000 allows that an hourly rate may be
charged for the production of these documents, but it must be
the hourly wage of the lowest paid employee capable of performing the task
and may not exceed $25.00 per hour. The hourly wage
for the lowest paid employee capable of completing this request is $21.00
per hour. The estimated time for research, production, and
formatting of these requested materials is approximately 1 hour. The
requested documents will be provided electronically in an accessible
format, either as an email attachment, or if too large, on a CD-ROM.
Delivery of materials to the requesting party shall not exceed
25 business days from commencement of the project.
The records will not be provided until the sum of $21 is received to cover
the reasonable fee as pertaining to the employee who will be
performing the task as permissible under 950 CMR 32.06(2)(f). Upon
completion of the work the public records will be transmitted to the
requesting party in the manner noted above. Payment of all reasonable fees
pertaining to the records request should be made by check
written to the Town of Dunstable.
Please note that a written copy of this response has also been mailed to you
as of January 18, 2017.
Sincerely,
Jake K Hamm, J.D.
Public Records Access Officer
Administrative Assistant
Board of Selectmen
511 Main Street
Dunstable, MA 01827-1313
978-649-4514 ext. 224
978-649-4371 fax
<http://www.dunstable-ma.gov/> www.dunstable-ma.gov
Most emails to and from municipal offices and officials are public record.
Confidentiality should not be expected. However, this email, and any
documents transmitted with it, may contain confidential or privileged
information. This information is only intended for use by the individual or
entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, be
aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of this information
is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify us by
returning this email or by calling us at the number listed above and then
deleting this email from your computer.
From: Dunstable Town Clerk (MA)
A letter stating the requester must agree to or prepay assessed or estimated fees in order for the agency to continue processing the request.
From: Beryl Lipton
Hi there,
Do you mind clarifying what the fee of $21 would cover? Will it cover the production of the records (and do you have a sense of how many that might be), or should I expect further invoicing?
Thanks so much for your time,
Beryl
From: Jacob Hamm
As noted in our written response, the estimated time for research, production, and formatting of the requested materials is approximately 1 hr. Since you have requested the documents in a digital format there is no per page fee (only applicable for paper). Therefore, the $21 will cover the production of the requested records. As to my sense as to how many records would be produced, my sense is that it would likely be less than 5 pages. It should be noted that the estimated time of 1 hr covers research, production, and formatting by two different departments.
Respectfully,
Jake K Hamm, J.D.
Records Access Officer
Administrative Assistant
Board of Selectmen
511 Main Street
Dunstable, MA 01827-1313
978-649-4514 ext. 224
978-649-4371 fax
<http://www.dunstable-ma.gov/> www.dunstable-ma.gov
Most emails to and from municipal offices and officials are public record. Confidentiality should not be expected. However, this email, and any documents transmitted with it, may contain confidential or privileged information. This information is only intended for use by the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of this information is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify us by returning this email or by calling us at the number listed above and then deleting this email from your computer.
From: MuckRock
To Whom It May Concern:
Please find enclosed a check for $21.00 to satisfy the fee associated with the attached public records request.
Thank you.
From: Jacob Hamm
Ms. Lipton,
We are in receipt of your payment. Please see the attached documents as
requested.
Respectfully,
Jake K Hamm, J.D.
Records Access Officer
Administrative Assistant
Board of Selectmen
511 Main Street
Dunstable, MA 01827-1313
978-649-4514 ext. 224
978-649-4371 fax
<http://www.dunstable-ma.gov/> www.dunstable-ma.gov
Most emails to and from municipal offices and officials are public record.
Confidentiality should not be expected. However, this email, and any
documents transmitted with it, may contain confidential or privileged
information. This information is only intended for use by the individual or
entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, be
aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of this information
is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify us by
returning this email or by calling us at the number listed above and then
deleting this email from your computer.
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