I have received your below OPRA request and I need clarification on some items:

1. "All Correspondence including internal memos, email....letters": Please clarify your request using the below criteria.
Requests for correspondence, the GRC has established specific criteria deemed necessary under OPRA to request communication.
See Elcavage v. West Milford Twp. (Passaic), GRC Complaint No. 2009-07 (April 2010).
The Council determined that to be valid, such requests must contain: (1) the content and/or subject of the e-mail, (2) the specific date or range of dates during which the e-mail(s) were transmitted, and (3) the identity of the sender and/or the recipient thereof. See Elcavage, GRC 2009-07; Sandoval v. N.J. State Parole Bd., GRC Complaint No. 2006-167 (Interim Order March 28, 2007). The Council has also applied the criteria set forth in Elcavage to other forms of correspondence, such as letters. See Armenti v. Robbinsville Bd. of Educ. (Mercer), GRC Complaint No. 2009-154 (Interim Order May 24, 2011). Further, the Council has previously determined that a request failing to contain all appropriate criteria set forth in Elcavage, GRC 2009-07, was invalid. See e.g. Verry v. Borough of South Bound Brook (Somerset), GRC Complaint No. 2009-124 (April 2010) (invalid request omitting the "subject and/or content"); Inzelbuch, Esq. (O.B.O. Ctr. for Educ.) v. Lakewood Bd. of Educ. (Ocean), GRC Complaint No. 2015-68 (September 2016) (invalid request omitting "date or range of dates").
2. Minutes/Public Meetings: This is request is too vague. Please state which specific minutes you are looking for (date) and from what council/board. You are requesting us to perform research to see which documents exist which is not covered under the OPRA statute. OPRA is for copies of specific documents and is not to be used as a research tool.
The New Jersey Government Records Council states that "valid OPRA (Open Public Records Act) request seeks specific, identifiable government records. Valid OPRA requests do not ask questions, do not seek information, and do not require a custodian to conduct any research or create a new record. When a request is "complex" because it fails to specifically identify the documents sought, then that request is not "encompassed" by OPRA. See New Jersey Builders Association v. New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 390 N.J.Super. 166, 180 (App. Div. 2007). A proper request under OPRA must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that are desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply requesting all of an agency's documents. OPRA is to "search" for a specific, identifiable, existing government record. It is not meant to "research" to see if a record exists. Research should be done prior to completing an OPRA request.
3. "Please include any and all prior and current documents pertaining to the church property from 1980 forward". You are requesting us to perform research to see which documents exist which is not covered under the OPRA statute. OPRA is for copies of specific documents and is not to be used as a research tool.
The New Jersey Government Records Council states that "valid OPRA (Open Public Records Act) request seeks specific, identifiable government records. Valid OPRA requests do not ask questions, do not seek information, and do not require a custodian to conduct any research or create a new record. When a request is "complex" because it fails to specifically identify the documents sought, then that request is not "encompassed" by OPRA. See New Jersey Builders Association v. New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 390 N.J.Super. 166, 180 (App. Div. 2007). A proper request under OPRA must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that are desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply requesting all of an agency's documents. OPRA is to "search" for a specific, identifiable, existing government record. It is not meant to "research" to see if a record exists. Research should be done prior to completing an OPRA request.
4. Deeds/Deed Restrictions: Deeds are kept at the Ocean County Clerk's Office in Toms River. They can be reached at 732-929-2018.
5. Survey: I will see if our Building Department has a copy of the survey.
6. Soil Tests, Water data, endangered species": These are not municipal documents. I would recommend reaching out to the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority, possibly the NJDEP and I am unsure about endangered species.... But it would not be the Township of Brick.
7. Traffic Safety Reports and Crash data: I will forward this part of the request to our Police Department and see if they can process this request using the information you provided or if they will need additional information.
Therefore, I will get back to you regarding #5 and #7. The rest are either not municipal records or needs to be more specific.

Sincerely,

Jessica L. Larney, RMC/CMR
Assistant Municipal Clerk
Deputy Registrar of Vital Statistics

Office of the Township Clerk/Vital Statistics
401 Chambers Bridge Road
Brick, New Jersey 08723
732-262-1003

show quoted sections

In response to your attached OPRA request, please see the attached
documents.

Redactions Citing:

N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 (Legislative Findings)

1) Privacy Interest - “a public agency has a responsibility and an
obligation to safeguard from public access a citizen's personal
information with which it has been entrusted when disclosure thereof would
violate the citizen's reasonable expectation of privacy.” See Burnett v.
Cnty. of Bergen, 198 N.J. 408 (2009).

* Please note:

Though the Office of the Township Clerk processes all of the OPRA requests
for the Township, we cannot answer questions regarding documents obtained
from other departments.

Depending on your request, please see the below list of Department phone
numbers that can assist you with any questions regarding the documents you
received:

Building Department: 732-262-1030

Code Enforcement: 732-262-1033

Engineering Department: 732-262-1040

Land Use/Planning Board/Board of Adjustment: 732-262-1039

Police Records: 732-262-1130

Thank You,

Jillian VonGlahn

Office of the Municipal Clerk

Township of Brick

732-262-1004 - phone

732-262-2839 - fax

[1][email address]

References

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