Town of Milan
Amendment to Chapter 161 of the Code of Milan
Records, Public Access To
Local Law No. _ of the year 2006
A local law amending Chapter 161 of the Code of the Town of Milan entitled RECORDS, PUBLIC ACCESS TO
Be it enacted by the Town Board of the Town of Milan:
SECTION 1. LEGISLATIVE INTENT

The Town Board seeks to have an open government that is equally accessible to all of the Town’s citizens. Accordingly, the Town is amending the Town’s records access law to ensure that all individuals seeking records are treated equally and to update the law in accordance with the current statutory and regulatory treatment of access to public records by the State Legislature and the Committee on Open Government.

SECTION 2. SEVERABILITY

The invalidity of any word, section, clause, paragraph, sentence, part or provision of this local law shall not affect the validity of any other part of this local law, which can be given effect within such part or parts.

SECTION 3.

Section 161-2 of the Town Code is deleted and replaced in its entirety as follows:
§161-2 Records inaccessible to the public.

A. The following records, pursuant to town and state law, are not accessible to the public:

(1) Those which are specifically exempted from disclosure by state or federal statute;

(2) Those which, if disclosed, would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy under the provisions of subdivision two of section eighty-nine of this article;

(3) Those which, if disclosed, would impair present or imminent contract awards or collective bargaining negotiations;
(4) Those which are trade secrets or are submitted to an agency by a commercial enterprise or derived from information obtained from a commercial enterprise and which if disclosed would cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the subject enterprise;

(5) Those which are compiled for law enforcement purposes and which, if disclosed, would:

(a) interfere with law enforcement investigations or judicial proceedings;

(b) deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or impartial adjudication;

(c) identify a confidential source or disclose confidential information relating to a criminal investigation; or

(d) reveal criminal investigative techniques or procedures, except routine techniques and procedures;

(6) Those which, if disclosed, could endanger the life or safety of any person;

(7) Those which are inter-agency or intra-agency materials which are not:

(a) statistical or factual tabulations or data;

(b) instructions to staff that affect the public;

(c) final agency policy or determinations; or

(d) external audits, including but not limited to audits performed by the comptroller and the federal government; or

(8) Those which are examination questions or answers which are requested prior to the final administration of such questions;

(9) Those which, if disclosed, would jeopardize an agency’s capacity to guarantee the security of its information technology assets, such assets encompassing both electronic information systems and infrastructures; or

(10) Those which are photographs, microphotographs, videotape or other recorded images prepared under authority of section eleven hundred eleven-a of the vehicle and traffic law.

SECTION 4.

Section 161-3 of the Town Code is deleted and replaced in its entirety as follows:

§ 161-3. Designation of records access officers; responsibilities.

A. The Town Board of the Town of Milan is responsible for ensuring compliance with the regulations herein and designates the following person as records access officer:

(1) Town Clerk, 20 Wilcox Circle, Milan, New York 12571.

B. The records access officer is responsible for ensuring appropriate agency response to public requests for access to records. The designation of records access officers shall not be construed to prohibit officials who have in the past been authorized to make records or information available to the public from continuing to do so.

Records access officers shall ensure that personnel:

(1) Maintain an up-to-date subject matter list.

(2) Assist persons seeking records to identify the records sought, if necessary, and when appropriate, indicate the manner in which the records are filed, retrieved or generated to assist persons in reasonably describing records.

(3) Contact persons seeking records when a request is voluminous or when locating the records involves substantial effort, so that personnel may ascertain the nature of records of primary interest and attempt to reasonably reduce the volume of records requested.

(4) Upon locating the records, take one (1) of the following actions:

(a) Make records available for inspection; or

(b) Deny access to the records in whole or in part and explain, in writing, the reasons therefore.

(5) Upon request for copies of records, make a copy available upon payment or offer to pay established fees, if any, in accordance with § 161-9.

(6) Upon request, certify that a record is a true copy.

(7) Upon failure to locate records, certify that:

(a) The Town of Milan is not the custodian for such records; or

(b) The records of which the Town of Milan is custodian cannot be found after diligent search.

SECTION 5.

Section 161-4 of the Town Code is deleted and replaced in its entirety as follows:

§ 161-4. Location of records.

Records shall be available for public inspection and copying at the Wilcox Memorial Town Hall, 20 Wilcox Circle, Milan, New York 12571.

SECTION 6.

Section 161-6 of the Town Code is deleted and replaced in its entirety as follows:

§ 161-6. Procedure for requests.

A. A written request shall be required. The original request shall be forwarded to the Town Clerk’s Office and maintained there according to New York State statutory and regulatory records retention requirements.

B. If records are maintained on the internet, the requester shall be informed that the records are accessible via the internet and in printed form either on paper or other information storage medium.

C. A response shall be given within five business days of receipt of a request by:

(1) informing a person requesting records that the request or portion of the request does not reasonably describe the records sought, including direction, to the extent possible, that would enable that person to request records reasonably described;

(2) granting or denying access to records in whole or in part;

(3) acknowledging the receipt of a request in writing, including an approximate date when the request will be granted or denied in whole or in part, which shall be reasonable under the circumstances of the request and shall not be more than twenty business days after the date of the acknowledgment, or if it is known that circumstances prevent disclosure within twenty business days from the date of such acknowledgment, providing a statement in writing indicating the reason for inability to grant the request within that time and a date certain, within a reasonable period under the circumstances of the request, when the request will be granted in whole or in part; or

(4) if the receipt of request was acknowledged in writing and included an approximate date when the request would be granted in whole or in part within twenty business days of such acknowledgment, but circumstances prevent disclosure within that time, providing a statement in writing within twenty business days of such acknowledgment specifying the reason for the inability to do so and a date certain, within a reasonable period under the circumstances of the request, when the request will be granted in whole or in part.

D. In determining a reasonable time for granting or denying a request under the circumstances of a request, personnel shall consider the volume of a request, the ease or difficulty in locating, retrieving or generating records, the complexity of the request, the need to review records to determine the extent to which they must be disclosed, the number of requests received by the agency, and similar factors that bear on the ability to grant access to records promptly and within a reasonable time.

E. A failure to comply with the time limitations described herein shall constitute a denial of a request that may be appealed. Such failure shall include situations in which an officer or employee:

(1) fails to grant access to the records sought, deny access in writing or acknowledge the receipt of a request within five business days of the receipt of a request;

(2) acknowledges the receipt of a request within five business days but fails to furnish an approximate date when the request will be granted or denied in whole or in part;

(3) furnishes an acknowledgment of the receipt of a request within five business days with an approximate date for granting or denying access in whole or in part that is unreasonable under the circumstances of the request;

(4) fails to respond to a request within a reasonable time after the approximate date given or within twenty business days after the date of the acknowledgment of the receipt of a request;

(5) determines to grant a request in whole or in part within twenty business days of the acknowledgment of the receipt of a request, but fails to do so, unless the agency provides the reason for its inability to do so in writing and a date certain within which the request will be granted in whole or in part;

(6) does not grant a request in whole or in part within twenty business days of the acknowledgment of the receipt of a request and fails to provide the reason in writing explaining the inability to do so and a date certain by which the request will be granted in whole or in part; or

(7) responds to a request, stating that more than twenty business days is needed to grant or deny the request in whole or in part and provides a date certain within which that will be accomplished, but such date is unreasonable under the circumstances of the request.

SECTION 7.

Section 161-7(C) of the Town Code is amended to delete the words “not less than twice per year” and replace them with the word “annually”

SECTION 8.

Section 161-8 of the Town Code is deleted and replaced in its entirety as follows:

§ 161-8. Denial of access; appeals.

A. Denial of access to records shall be in writing, stating the reason therefore and advising the requester of the right to appeal to the individual or body established to hear appeals which shall be identified by name, title, business address and business phone number.

B. If requested records are not provided promptly in § 161-6 of these regulations, such failure shall also be deemed a denial of access.

C. The following person or persons or body shall hear appeals from denial of access to records under the Freedom of Information Law: the Town Board of the Town of Milan, 20 Wilcox Circle, Milan, New York 12571, 845-758-5133, x 35.

D. Any person denied access to records may appeal within thirty days of a denial.

E. The time for deciding an appeal by the individual or body designated to hear appeals shall commence upon receipt of written appeal identifying:

(1) The date and location of the request for records.

(2) A description, to the extent possible, of the records that were denied; and

(3) The name and return address of the person denied access.

F. A failure to determine an appeal within ten business days of its receipt by granting access to the records sought or fully explaining the reasons for further denial in writing shall constitute a denial of the appeal.

G. The person or body designated to hear appeals shall transmit to the Committee on Open Government copies of all appeals upon receipt of appeals. Such copies shall be addressed to the Committee on Open Government, Department of State, 41 State Street, Albany, New York 12231.

H. The person or body designated to hear appeals shall inform the appellant and the Committee on Open Government of its determination, in writing, within ten (10) business days of receipt of an appeal. The determination shall be transmitted to the Committee on Open Government in the same manner as set forth in Subsection F of this section.

SECTION 9. EFFECTIVE DATE

This local law shall take effect immediately after it is filed with the Secretary of State as provided in section twenty-seven of the Municipal Home Rule Law.