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Town denies FOIL appeal after request arrives in unreadable secure file; applicant told to resubmit
Summary
The board voted on a staff recommendation to deny a FOIL appeal because the submitted file could not be opened; the town attorney and staff advised the applicant to resubmit the request in a standard PDF or by other accessible means.
Town staff and the town attorney told the board at the Aug. 13 work session that a FOIL appeal from the law firm Harding Mazzotti could not be opened because the original request was sent as a secure, passworded message the office could not access.
The town attorney explained that the file sent by the requester appeared unreadable and that even an attached scan in the appeal packet was pixelated and illegible. The attorney said the FOIL in question was dated 06/25/2024 and that an appeal was filed on July 31; staff reported that the police records officer asked for the request to be resent but could not open the resend either.
Given the inability to review the content, the town attorney recommended denying the appeal as filed while advising the applicant that they could resubmit a readable request in a standard PDF or submit a paper copy. A board member moved to adopt that recommendation, another board member seconded, and the board approved the motion by voice vote.
Town staff said they would reach out to the applicant to request a resubmission and that, once a legible record request is received, the police records office would review and respond consistent with FOIL and open-meetings law.
