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Town clerk details FOIA costs and recommends shared inbox; council discusses email policy and late-filing penalty
Summary
Town clerk reported significant staff time and an estimated extra charge to fulfill a large FOIA request, described options for billing or withholding records until payment, proposed a shared council inbox to protect members' addresses, and suggested raising the late-filing penalty to Virginia's 10% maximum for 2027.
The town clerk/administrator (speaker S4) gave an administrative report focused on open-records workload and town communications. She said a recent FOIA request required dozens of staff hours and that the initial $200 estimate for production would likely grow by roughly $240–$250 and an additional eight hours of staff time; counsel advised either withholding remaining records until payment or providing the records and billing later (with the possibility of denying future large requests if payments remain unpaid).
"I've had to, reply to the respondent last week to tell him that I I didn't give him an estimate. So I said 6 hours, and that was $200. And he needed to to pay the $200 before we started," the clerk said, and added that staff will likely provide the remaining records and bill afterward.
S4 proposed a consolidated public-facing inbox (towncouncil@scottsville.org) to avoid individual council members’ private email addresses being posted on flyers and to make citizen requests easier to route. Council members debated whether to centralize email or keep individual addresses; concerns focused on responsiveness, protecting members from an onslaught of emails and ensuring citizen requests aren’t lost.
S4 also noted the town had replaced its website and moved away from a costly hosting contract, saving roughly $1,250 per year, and provided updates on routine maintenance (HVAC repairs, portable restroom removal, park mowing) and grant-funded LPR camera procurement where a $20,000 transfer occurred to pay for the equipment pending reimbursement.
Finally, S4 raised a proposal to increase the default late-filing penalty from 3% to 10% (the maximum S4 said Virginia law allows), potentially effective in 2027; council members discussed how many businesses this might affect and whether the town should phase the increase.
No formal votes were recorded in the transcript excerpt on the FOIA billing approach, shared inbox policy, or the penalty increase; staff were asked to follow up with more detailed estimates and options.
