Appointed-professional billing records, 2010–present
Dear Egg Harbor Township,
Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request per NJSA 47:1A-5(f), which states that an email from a requestor including all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record request.
I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.
I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.
I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.
Records requested:
Please provide, for January 1, 2010 through the present:
The annual resolutions identifying all Township-appointed attorneys, engineers, planners, auditors and other professional firms.
The existing electronic accounts-payable or vendor-transaction export for those professionals, including all available fields for vendor, invoice date and number, amount billed, amount paid, payment date, project or escrow code, account, purchase order, check number and description.
The existing list or crosswalk identifying the names associated with each project, escrow and account code.
Please provide electronic data in its existing native format, preferably CSV or Excel. This request seeks existing records and does not ask the Township to calculate totals or create a new report.
My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail as attachments. Please confirm you have received this request. If you are not the custodian of records, please forward my request to that person and provide their email address to me for future reference.
Yours faithfully,
John Q. Neighbor
Dear Requestor:
The Township is in receipt of your Open Public Records Act ("OPRA")
request dated July 30, 2026.
At this time, clarification of your request is necessary before the
Township can identify the responsive government records and continue
processing your request.
The New Jersey Open Public Records Act requires a requestor to identify
with reasonable clarity the specific, identifiable government records
sought. A records custodian is not required to conduct research, exercise
discretion in determining which records may be responsive, or create a
compilation of information in order to identify responsive government
records. See *MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage
Control*, 375 N.J. Super. 534 (App. Div. 2005); *Bent v. Stafford Police
Department*, 381 N.J. Super. 30 (App. Div. 2005). Consistent with
Government Records Council guidance, the Township's time to respond is
suspended pending receipt of the requested clarification.
Specifically, your request seeks:
"The annual resolutions identifying all Township-appointed attorneys,
engineers, planners, auditors and other professional firms.”
As written, this portion of your request does not identify specific,
identifiable government records.
The phrase "Township-appointed" is ambiguous because professional
appointments are made by multiple appointing authorities. While the
Township Committee appoints certain municipal professionals, the Planning
Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment, and other boards or agencies appoint
their own attorneys, engineers, planners, auditors, and other
professionals pursuant to their respective statutory authority. In
addition, professional appointments are not necessarily limited to the
annual Reorganization Meeting and may occur at any time throughout the
year by separate resolution.
The Township does not maintain a single government record identifying all
professional firms appointed by all appointing authorities during the
requested period. Accordingly, responding to this portion of your request
would require the Township to conduct a historical review of resolutions,
determine which appointing authority made each appointment, identify which
professional firms fall within the scope of your request, and compile that
information before responsive records could be identified.
Clarification of this portion of your request is also necessary before the
Township can process the remaining portions of your OPRA request.
Specifically, your request for the "existing electronic accounts-payable
or vendor-transaction export for those professionals" cannot be processed
until the professional firms encompassed by your request have been
identified. The Township's Finance Department cannot search for or produce
vendor transaction records without first knowing which vendors are the
subject of your request. The Township does not maintain a single existing
government record identifying those vendors for the requested sixteen-year
period.
To assist you in identifying the specific government records sought,
attached are the Township Committee Resolution Indexes for the requested
period. In addition, the following public resources are available on the
Township's website:
• Agendas, Minutes, Resolutions, and Bill Lists (2012–Present):
[1]https://www.ehtnj.gov/government/meeting...
• Vendor Reports (2016-2025):
[2]https://www.ehtnj.gov/business/vendors.php
These resources are provided as a courtesy to assist you in identifying
the specific government records sought and are not intended to limit or
otherwise define the scope of any clarified OPRA request.
Please clarify your request by identifying one or more of the following:
1. The specific resolution(s) sought;
2. The specific professional firm(s) sought;
3. The appointing authority(ies) whose professional appointments are
intended to be included (e.g., Township Committee, Planning Board, Zoning
Board of Adjustment, etc.); and/or
4. Any additional information that will enable the Township to identify
the specific government records you seek.
Upon receipt of your clarification, the Township will resume processing
your OPRA request in accordance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5 and applicable law.
Following review of your clarified request, the Township will advise you
whether the records sought are publicly available, whether any records
require retrieval from archived files, and whether fulfillment of the
request may require additional time and/or, where authorized by OPRA, an
extraordinary service charge pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(c). Any such
charge, if applicable, will be communicated to you in advance.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact my
office.
Respectfully,
Janice F. Hughes, RMC, CMR
Township Clerk | Registrar of Vital Statistics
Township of Egg Harbor
3515 Bargaintown Road, Egg Harbor Twp, NJ 08234
[3]www.ehtnj.gov | 609-926-4085
Dear Janice,
My apologies for making the request too broad in scope. I will try and be more specific:
Please provide the existing project or escrow ledgers, accounts-payable transaction reports, and professional invoices maintained for:
Patcong Farms, including accounts 178-89 and 179-51.
Timber Ridge, including account 178-80.
Chelsea Avenue subdivision, including SDF 02-09 and PB2025-019.
Date range: January 1, 2010 through the present.
Please provide electronic records in their existing format. This request seeks existing records and does not require calculations or creation of a new report.
Yours sincerely,
John Q. Neighbor
Thank you for your clarification.
Based upon the clarification provided, your request has been referred to the Department of Planning, as the requested records are maintained by that department.
Accordingly, your clarified OPRA request has been forwarded to Land Use Administrator/Deputy Records Custodian Danielle Kelly for processing. Pursuant to OPRA, the Department has seven (7) business days from receipt of your clarification to respond directly to your request.
Should you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact my office.
Respectfully,
Janice F. Hughes, RMC, CMR
Township Clerk | Registrar of Vital Statistics
Township of Egg Harbor
3515 Bargaintown Road, Egg Harbor Twp, NJ 08234
www.ehtnj.gov | 609-926-4103