The borough shall make a good faith effort to provide the requested public or financial records to the requestor as promptly as possible. Pursuant to the provisions of the Act, the borough must respond to the request within five business days from receipt of the request in accord with the following:
(A) The borough can grant the request(s) and provide the requested copies of the records;
(B) The borough can issue a denial of the request, which shall be provided to the requestor in writing which shall include a description of the record requested, provide a specific reason for the borough’s denial (which shall include a citation to the borough’s supporting legal authority for the denial). The borough shall also provide the typed or printed name, title, business address and business telephone number and signature of the Open Records Officer on whose authority the denial was issued as well as the date the response and procedure to appeal the denial of access under the Act; and
(C) (1) In the event that the borough claims an exception to the time requirements imposed by the Act, it must issue a response within five business days and explain that the request is being reviewed, the reason for the review, a reasonable date that a response is expected to be provided, and an estimate of the fees owed when the record becomes available.
(2) If the expected date of the borough’s response is to be more than 35 days from the date of the request, then the request for access shall be deemed to be denied, unless the requestor shall agree in writing to an extension of time. This response is only permitted when:
(a) The request for access shall require a redaction of record in accordance with § 706 of the Act, being 65 P.S. §§ 67.101 et seq.;
(b) The request for access requires the retrieval of a record stored in a remote location;
(c) A timely response to the request for access cannot be accomplished due to a bona fide and specified staffing limitation;
(d) A legal review is necessary to determine whether the record is a record that is subject to access under the Act;
(e) The requestor has not complied with the borough’s policies regarding access to the records;
(f) The requestor refuses to pay the applicable fees authorized by the Act; and
(g) The nature or extent of the request precluded a response within the required time period.
(Prior Code, Ch. 1, § 1-1204) (Res. 2-2009, passed 1-19-2009, § 4)