Dear Mr. Keller,
 
The Borough of Madison received your Open Public Records Act (OPRA)
request on December 30, 2024. The official Records Custodian, Elizabeth
Osborne, received your OPRA request on December 30, 2024.  As such, the
seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is January 9,
2025  This response to your request is being provided to you on the 6th
business day after the custodian’s receipt of said request.
 
Your OPRA request sought access to the following:
 
All records concerning water meter data in compliance with (NJPA) (SB 332)
 
All records concerning the sales and/or distribution of data captured by
water meters including outside agencies, non-profits and internal
departments
 
All records concerning the certification of water meter sensors for
accuracy of water flow
 
All records concerning the security of transmitted data from water meters
 
All records concerning of water meters meeting FCC Part 15 guidelines and
licensing under NJ Rev Stat § 2C:33-23.1 for radio transmission
 
               All records or contracts awarded for future maintenance or
water meters.
 
Your request requires additional time beyond the seven (7) business days
to fulfill. OPRA allows custodians to seek extensions of time pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.i.  Specifically, OPRA states that, “the requestor shall
be advised by the custodian when the record can be made available. If the
record is not made available by that time, access shall be deemed denied.”
 
Your request requires an extension of time until January 23, 2025.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Osborne
Borough Clerk
Borough of Madison
HDM 50 Kings Road
Madison, NJ 07940
973-593-3041

Re: Open Public Records Act/Common Law Request
Dear Mr. Keller:
The Borough of Madison (“Borough”) records custodian is in receipt of your
Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) and common law request (“Request”)
submitted on December 27, 2024. The Borough obtained an extension of the
response deadline until January 16, 2025. As such, the Borough is timely
responding to your Request in accordance with New Jersey law.
Your Request seeks the following:
All records concerning water meter data in compliance with (NJPA) (SB332)
All records concerning the sales and/or distribution of data captured by
water meters including outside agencies, non-profits and internal
departments
All records concerning the certification of water meter sensors for
accuracy of water flow
All records concerning the security of transmitted data from water meters
All records concerning of water meters meeting FCC Part 15 guidelines and
licensing under NJ Rev Stat § 2C:33-23.1 for radio transmission
All records or contracts awarded for future maintenance or [sic] water
meters
Please be advised that your Request is overly broad, as it fails to
identify with reasonable clarity any particular records sought. OPRA
operates to make identifiable government records “readily accessible for
inspection, copying, or examination.” N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1. New Jersey courts
have consistently held that OPRA does not countenance open-ended searches
of an agency’s files. MAG Entm’t, LLC v. Div. of ABC, 375 N.J. Super. 534,
549 (App. Div. 2005); New Jersey Builders Ass’n v. New Jersey Council on
Affordable Housing, 390 N.J. Super. 166 (App. Div.), cert. denied,
190 N.J. 394 (2007). Consequently, 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.” See e.g., Spectraserv, Inc. v. Middlesex Cty.
Utilities Auth., 416 N.J. Super. 565, 576 (App. Div. 2010); Bent v. Twp.
of Stafford Police Dep’t, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005). OPRA
requests may not be a broad generic description of documents that require
the custodian to search the agency’s files and “analyze, compile, and
collate” the requested information. Id.; see also Lagerkvist v. Office of
Governor of State, 443 N.J. Super. 230, 237 (App. Div. 2015) (holding that
OPRA does not convert a custodian into a researcher, which would have been
the effect of the request). Here, your request is clearly deficient as it
constitutes a blanket request for all records relating to the Borough’s
water meters, and your request purports to require the Borough’s records
custodian to conduct research in order to determine which materials may
potentially be responsive. See Parreott v. Asbury Park School District,
GRC Complaint Nos. 2016-20 & 2016-39 (Sept. 2017) (holding that the
portion of the request seeking “all relevant documents” was invalid
because it sought a class of various records and would have required the
records custodian to conduct research in order to locate responsive
records); see also Burke v. Ocean Cty., 2013 WL 6169154 (App. Div. 2013)
(holding that an OPRA request is not the equivalent of lawsuit discovery).
Moreover, your request is invalid due to the lack of any date limitation.
See Wares v. Passaic Cty. Prosecutor’s Office, GRC Complaint No. 2014-330
(June 2015); Love v. Borough of Spotswood, GRC Complaint No. 2014-223
(Interim Order March 2015). Accordingly, your Request fails to comport
with OPRA’s specificity requirements.
To the extent that you are purportedly seeking records pursuant to the
common law right of access, your Request is similarly deficient for the
reasons explained above. Additionally, in O’Boyle v. Borough of Longport,
218 N.J. 168, 196 (2014), the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the
party requesting documents under the common law right of access must
explain why he seeks access to the requested documents. See also Gannett
Satellite Information Network, LLC v. Twp. of Neptune, 254 N.J. 242 (2023)
(holding that the person seeking access must establish an interest in the
subject matter of the material). Here, your Request lacks any explanation
with respect to your purported interest in accessing the records at issue.
Notwithstanding the invalidity of your Request, please note that the
Borough is not in possession of any recent contracts awarded for water
meter maintenance, but in the interest of transparency we enclose the
Water Meter Replacement Project agreement between the Borough and MeterTek
Utility Services, Inc. dated May 21, 2024.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Osborne
Borough Clerk
Borough of Madison
HDM 50 Kings Road
Madison, NJ 07940
973-593-3041