Published by Brad Flynn | December 15, 2023 | Updated July 17, 2024
ISSUED 09/22/2023 – Michael Long vs. Bath Borough
Synopsis:
Requests sought electronic copies of financial records, email communications, Borough reports, utility bills, planning and traffic studies, records related to ARPA, and records related to the Borough’s solid waste and recycling fund and billing. Audit trail– Borough proved that records do not exist. Denied. Emails with Requestor’s name and a keyword list– Office of Open Records found this portion of the Request was insufficiently specific under Section 703 of the Right-to-Know Law. Denied. Treasurer’s reports were provided on appeal. Dismissed as moot. Auditor management representation letter: Borough proved it was exempt under Section 708(b)(17)(v) as working papers underlying an audit. Denied. Legal Invoices– Borough proved that there are no invoice records that are identified or broken out as services specifically for RTKL requests, and the redactions are protected under the attorney-client privilege. Borough proved no additional ARPA records exist. Denied. Borough did not prove that electric bills and related information are insufficiently specific or overly burdensome to provide. Granted. Borough proved that some planning studies records are by copyright protected. Denied. Borough did not conduct a good faith search for solid waste and recycling fund records or prove that this portion of the request is insufficiently specific. Granted.
The Borough contended the request for electric utility invoices was overly broad and overly burdensome. The reason for this was: 1) the Requestor had submitted 4 Right-to-Know Requests at the same time, all in multiple subparts. These Requests overburdened the Borough’s Office with under 3 personnel, where employees are responsible to not only the requirements of the RTKL, but all other Borough business and customers. 2) the Borough had only 35 days to respond to each request. 3) Bath has 23 electric meters, each with master invoices (in paper format). Each master invoice is several pages in length and needed to be retrieved from monthly accounts payable files. 4) the Requestor sought 4 years and 3 months’ worth of invoices, voluminous records on top of hundreds of other pages of information. 5) Borough’s position was the retrieval and compilation of this information constituted an overly broad and burdensome request. The Requestor should have been more specific to an electric meter, or a narrow timeframe. The Office of Open Records disagreed. On appeal, and granted additional time, the Borough released electric meter invoices from 2019 through March 30, 2023.
The Borough was also directed by the Office of Open Records (and after authorization from Hanover Engineering Associates, Inc. was granted because this information was still considered copyright protected) to, 1) release the Preliminary/Final Land Development Plan Bathwick Hills Apartments dated April, 25, 2022 containing Sheets numbered 1 thru 37, 2) Post Construction Stormwater Management Report Bathwick Hills Apartments dated April 25, 2022, 3) Preliminary/Final Land Development Plan Bathwick Hills Apartments dated April 25, 2022, revised September 26, 2022, containing sheets numbered 1 thru 37, 4) Post Construction Stormwater Management Report Bathwick Hills Apartments dated April 25, 2022, revised September 26, 2022, 5) Preliminary/Final Land Development Plan Bathwick Hills Apartments dated April 25, 2022, revised February 24, 2023, containing 40 sheets, and 6) Post Construction Stormwater Management Report Bathwick Hills Apartments dated April 25, 2022, revised February 24, 2023.
All of the information related to the Bathwick Hills development is currently in the planning phase. The Borough has not granted any approvals to the overall project. The Request for the above information is copyrighted works, subject to change through the planning process, and is NOT approved by the Borough. Further, information about the Bathwick development project can be reviewed by reading through the Borough of Bath Planning Commission Meeting Minutes or just asking Borough staff.
As it relates to the Borough’s Sanitation Fund: The Borough reviewed the directive of the Final Determination finding once more that the Borough does not have an audit trail associated with excess revenue generated from the amount of funds generated versus expenses related to sanitation between 2017-2019. Something insisted upon by the Requestor without an understanding how the Borough’s accounting software works. The Borough’s position is the request for Sanitation Fund documentation spanning a few years and accounting scope was overly broad and overly burdensome. The Request did not identify a specific record or transaction of the Borough. Further, the Borough is not able to create an audit trail report (as Requestor demanded) because the Borough’s accounting software does not have a function that provides an audit trail report generated from a net income as may be listed on a Profit and Loss Report. The Borough has argued this point repeatedly with the Requestor. On appeal, the Borough completed extensive exercises for responsive documents relative to the Request. The Borough granted access to the following, in addition to what was already released during appeal, 1) General Fund Profit & Loss Detail Report for 2020 and 2021, 2) General Fund Audit Trail Reports from 2017 thru 2019, 3) Sanitation Profit & Loss Reports from 2017 thru 2019, 4) 2020 Delinquent Sanitation Accounts, 5) 2021 Delinquent Sanitation Accounts, and 6) 2022 Delinquent Sanitation Accounts.
PARTIALLY GRANTED/PARTIALLY DENIED
Docket Entries (68 Entries):
| Filed | Description |
| 09/22/2023 | OOR Final Determination (52 Pages) |
| 09/18/2023 | OOR Correspondence (1 Page) |
| 09/18/2023 | Requestor Correspondence (1 Page) |
| 09/18/2023 | OOR Correspondence – Final Determination Extension Request (1 Page) |
| 09/06/2023 | Requestor Submission (4 Pages) |
| 09/06/2023 | Requestor Submission (1 Page) |
| 09/01/2023 | OOR Custom Letter – Final Determination Extension Request (1 Page) |
| 08/30/2023 | Requestor Position Statement (2 Pages) |
| 08/17/2023 | Requestor Submission – Exhibit (2 Pages) |
| 08/21/2023 | Agency Response to Request for Clarification (375 Pages) |
| 08/16/2023 | Agency Correspondence (2 Pages) |
| 08/16/2023 | Agency Correspondence (2 Pages) |
| 08/15/2023 | Agency Correspondence – Clarification Response (1 Page) |
| 08/15/2023 | Requestor Correspondence (1 Page) |
| 08/15/2023 | Requestor Correspondence (3 Pages) |
| 08/10/2023 | OOR Correspondence – FD Extension – Exemption Log (1 Page) |
| 08/10/2023 | OOR Correspondence – Agency Clarification – Exemption Log (2 Pages) |
| 08/10/2023 | Requestor Correspondence (1 Page) |
| 08/07/2023 | OOR Correspondence – FD Extension Request |
| 08/07/2023 | OOR Correspondence |
| 08/07/2023 | OOR Correspondence |
| 08/07/2023 | Requestor Correspondence (1 Page – AI Generated Image) |
| 08/07/2023 | Requestor Correspondence (1 Page) |
| 07/31/2023 | Agency Correspondence (2 Pages) |
| 07/28/2023 | OOR Correspondence (2 Pages) |
| 07/27/2023 | OOR Correspondence – Extension Request (1 Page) |
| 07/20/2023 | Agency Response to Request for Clarification (10 Pages) |
| 07/20/2023 | Requestor Submission (2 Pages) |
| 07/20/2023 | Requestor Submission (3 Pages) |
| 07/17/2023 | Requestor Submission (2 Pages) |
| 07/14/2024 | OOR Correspondence – Supplemental Deadlines (1 Page) |
| 07/14/2023 | Requestor Submission (1 Page) |
| 07/14/2023 | Requestor Submission (1 Page) |
| 07/14/2023 | Requestor Submission (1 Page) |
| 07/14/2023 | Requestor Submission (1 Page) |
| 07/05/2023 | OOR Correspondence – Final Determination Extension (5 Pages) |
| 07/05/2023 | Requestor Position Statement (2 Pages) |
| 07/03/2023 | OOR Correspondence – Request for Reply to Extension Request (1 Page) |
| 06/29/2023 | OOR Correspondence – Extension Request (1 Page) |
| 06/23/2023 | Agency Correspondence (6 Pages) |
| 05/26/2023 | Entry of Appearance (1 Page) |
| 05/26/2023 | OOR Correspondence (4 Pages) |
| 05/26/2023 | OOR Correspondence (3 Pages) |
| 05/26/2023 | Entry of Appearance Request (13 pages) |
| 05/25/2023 | RECORD CLOSED |
| 05/25/2023 | Agency Submission (6 Pages) |
| 05/25/2023 | Agency Position Statement (13 Pages) |
| 05/25/2023 | Agency Position Statement (13 Pages) |
| 05/25/2023 | Agency Submission (13 Pages) |
| 05/25/2023 | Agency Position Statement (13 Pages) |
| 05/25/2023 | Agency Position Statement (13 Pages) |
| 05/25/2023 | Requestor Submission (18 Pages) |
| 05/16/2023 | OOR Notice of Deadlines (1 Page) |
| 05/16/2023 | OOR Acknowledgement (7 Pages) |
| 05/16/2023 | OOR Additional Extension (1 Page) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (2 Pages) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (308 Pages) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (86 Pages) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (25 Pages) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (21 Pages) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (2 Pages) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (1 Page) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (10 Page PowerPoint) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (2 Pages) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (2 Pages) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (9 Pages) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (2 Pages) |
| 05/15/2023 | Requestor Appeal (16 Pages) |
| 05/12/2023 | Requestor Appeal (43 Pages) |
