Confirmation of payment of funds from New Jersey American Water to City of Salem and itemized breakdown of City's use of such funds
Dear New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Division of Local Government Services,
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-6(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:
1. Records and documents showing payment by New Jersey American Water of “Transaction Cost Reimbursement” money pursuant to Section 1.12 of the June 8, 2023 “Addendum No. 3 to the Request for Bids for Sale of Water and Wastewater Systems Issued by the City of Salem, New Jersey on May 8, 2023” (Addendum No. 3 requires a payment of $200,000 in Transaction Cost Reimbursement, one-third to be paid upon execution of the Agreement of Sale and two-thirds to be paid on the Closing Date);
2. Records and documents showing and itemizing all uses by the City of Salem of the $200,000 in “Transaction Cost Reimbursement” payments made to the City of Salem by New Jersey American Water pursuant to Addendum No. 3 described above.
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,
Joseph F. Bouvier
Hello,
This is in response to your OPRA request.
According to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i)(1), "A records custodian of a public agency that receives a request for a record created, maintained, or received by another public agency shall not be obligated to provide the record to the requestor. In the event the custodian does not provide the record, the custodian shall direct the requestor within seven business days to the public agency that, to the best of their knowledge, created, maintains, or received the requested record, at which time the request shall be considered completed."
Thus, the Division of Local Government Services has no responsive records. To the best of the custodian's knowledge, this request may be sent to Salem City.
This request is now considered closed.
Regards,
Matthew Marthaler
OPRA Custodian
New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
Local Government Services