OPRA-Req-23-0562
Date Received: 5/16/2023
Status: Received
Applicant: Willie Volkert
Information Requested: Any and all communication not limited to
emails, memos aka momorandum, notes, and documents, between Owen
Henry and Himanshu Shah between August 30th 2022 and Oct 4th 2022.

The Township of Old Bridge received an Open Public Records Act
(OPRA) request on 5/16/2023.
Your request has been reviewed.

PLEASE NOTE:
The GRC established criteria deemed necessary under OPRA to
specifically request an email communication in 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 email, (2) the
specific date or range of dates during which the email(s) were
transmitted, and (3) the identity of the sender and/or the
recipient thereof. See Elcavage, GRC 2009-07; Sandoval v. NJ 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).

In Verry v. Borough of South Bound Brook (Somerset), GRC Complaint
No. 2009-124 (April 2010), the complainant's OPRA request sought
all e-mails to or from a particular e-mail account for a specific
time period. The custodian's counsel responded advising the
complainant that his OPRA request was invalid because it
represented an open-ended search of the Borough's files. The
Council held that the complainant's request was invalid under
Elcavage, GRC 2009-07 because it did not include a subject or
content. Id. at 7. Herein, the Complainant's OPRA request sought
e-mails from all employees for a certain date range. However,
similar to the request at issue in Verry, the request here did not
identify a subject or the content of the e-mails sought. For this
reason, the request did not meet the express criteria necessary to
appropriately request e-mails and is thus invalid. The GRC notes
that the Complainant's clarified request identified specific
senders/recipients. However, the clarification did not cure the
deficiency of this request because the Complainant did not include
a subject or content.

Therefore, your request is denied. You can revise your request
accordingly and submit a new request.

If your request for access to a government record has been denied
or unfilled within the seven (7) business days required by law,
you have a right to challenge the decision by the Township of Old
Bridge to deny access. At your option, you may either institute a
proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey or file a complaint
with the Government Records Council (GRC) by completing the Denial
of Access Complaint Form. You may contact the GRC by toll-free
telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at P.O. Box 819, Trenton, NJ,
08625, by e-mail at [email address], or at their web site at
www.state.nj.us/grc. The GRC can also answer other questions about
the law. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior
Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County.
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The documents are under review by the Township Attorney. I hereby request an extension until June 13, 2023.

Kathryn Hutchinson, RMC, CMC, CMR, RPPS
Township Clerk/Deputy Registrar
Township of Old Bridge
1 Old Bridge Plaza
Old Bridge, NJ 08857
732-721-5600 Ext 2200
[email address]

show quoted sections

OPRA-Req-23-0562
Date Received: 5/16/2023
Status: Denied
Reason: per Elcavage v. West Milford Twp., GRC Complaint No.
2009-07.
Applicant: Willie Volkert
Information Requested: Any and all communication not limited to
emails, memos aka momorandum, notes, and documents, between Owen
Henry and Himanshu Shah between August 30th 2022 and Oct 4th 2022.

Clarification received 5/26/23 See below:

communication not limited to emails, memos aka memorandum,
notes,x, between Owen Henry and Himanshu Shah between Sept 10th
2022 and Oct 1st 2022 which includes the key word "SALARY" In the
subject and or regarding line

Assignments
Clerk Status: Denied
   Action:
Clerk Status: Received
   Action:

There were no documents found responsive to your request.
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