Gas leaks policies and data - Middlesex County (Framingham Town Clerk)
| Tracking # |
2017-0007 |
| Submitted | Jan. 5, 2017 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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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: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 5, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Nichol M. Figueiredo
Dear Ms. Lipton,
As the Records Access Officer for the Town of Framingham, I am writing to you in response to your emailed request for public records dated January 5, 2017 regarding gas leaks policies and data. Please be advised that according to M.G.L. c66, §10(a) A records access officer appointed pursuant to section 6A, or a designee, shall at reasonable times and without unreasonable delay permit inspection or furnish a copy of any public record as defined in clause twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4, or any segregable portion of a public record, not later than 10 business days following the receipt of the request.
Regarding your request for information regarding, "Any and all directive materials and data regarding the location and repair of gas leaks within this municipality," we are hereby requesting a modification of your request under 950 CMR 32.06 (2) (g). Under 950 CMR 32.06 (2) (g) a records access officer shall, when appropriate, suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requester to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably. Information regarding permits issued to gas companies date back to 1996 but your request did not include a specific date range. To respond to your request we are pulling all gas related permits. Permits issued for gas leaks between 1996 and 2014 may include notes regarding leaks when applicable. The Town updated its software approximately two years ago to specifically track leak related permits and facilitate reporting. In order to process your request as expeditiously as possible, please provide a timeframe that you are looking for? Once you clarify the dates, we can provide an estimate for the cost to locate and produce leak specific permits.
A review of Town of Framingham policies did not identify any ordinances, policies or procedures specific to gas companies.
In response to your request for "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," the Town has no records regarding the decay of or destruction of trees and other foliage in relation to the presence of gas leaks.
The Town of Framingham, Department of Public Work's utilizes work orders to document field activities. There are no searchable fields or notation protocol to record notes relative to gas leaks.
Upon receipt of your response, we will provide you with an estimate of the cost to locate and produce the records.
Sincerely,
Nichol M. Figueiredo
Records Access Officer
Town of Framingham
150 Concord Street
Framingham, MA 01702
Tel. 508.532.5437
nml@framinghamma.gov<mailto:nml@framinghamma.gov>
[FB]<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Town-of-Framingham/640898062649483>[Twitter]<https://twitter.com/Framingham_MA>
One Framingham -Focused on the Future!
From:
Framingham, MA
Public Record Request Number:2017-0007 Requester:
Beryl Lipton Request Date:
Wednesday, January 04, 2017 8:00:00 AM Response Due Date:
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Dear Beryl Lipton :
We have received your public Records request for Framingham. This record is being assigned to appropriate department. The department reviewer will review the request and create an effort estimate to create the response. Per state mandate, for Braintree, if the effort estimate is more than 2 hours, we will create a proposed cost estimate and will email such estimate to your attention. Once you approve the amount and send the payment, we will start working on your request.
In case the estimate is less than 2 hours, we will proceed to work on the response and will send you the response once the work is completed. Please also note that state mandate allows us to complete and send the response within
10 business days. We will do our due diligence towards this effort. However, the due date may be extended for any of the following reasons:
1. Any clarification that is required from you towards this request will stop the clock. The clock will be resumed once the proper clarification is received.
2. Payment of estimated effort – The time it takes to receive the due amount will be added to the original due date.
3. If in the opinion of the reviewer it is determined that original due date cannot be met despite reasonable effort, the due date shall be extended based on reviewer’s judgment. You will be promptly notified in such case with revised due date.
Thank you.
Nichol Figueiredo, Super RAOPublic Information Officer Department
Framingham
150 Concord St.
Framingham, MA 01702
508-532-5411
nml@framinghamma.gov
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 5, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #2017-0007.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Nichol M. Figueiredo
Dear Ms. Lipton,
Please see the highlighted paragraph below, the Town of Framingham has been awaiting your response to our request for modification. Once you clarify the dates, we can provide an estimate for the cost to locate and produce leak specific permits.
Sincerely,
Nichol M. Figueiredo
Public Information & Records Access Officer/Webmaster
Town of Framingham
150 Concord Street
Framingham, MA 01702
Tel. 508.532.5437
nml@framinghamma.gov<mailto:nml@framinghamma.gov>
[FB]<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Town-of-Framingham/640898062649483>[Twitter]<https://twitter.com/Framingham_MA>
One Framingham -Focused on the Future!
