Good Morning,

We are in receipt of your OPRA request.

Regards,

Xiomara Ortiz

Administrative Assistant III

Clerk’s Office

4567 Route 9 North

2nd Floor

Howell, NJ 07731

(732) 938-4500 Ext. 2241

[email address]

NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY
This message, including any prior messages and attachments, may contain
advisory, consultative and/or deliberative material, confidential
information or privileged communications of the Township of Howell. Access
to this message by anyone other than the sender and the intended
recipient(s) is unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient of
this message, any disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken or not
taken in reliance on it, without the expressed written consent of the
Township, is prohibited. If you have received this message in error, you
should not save, scan, transmit, print, use or disseminate this message or
any information contained in this message in any way and you should
promptly delete or destroy this message and all copies of it. Please
notify the sender by return e-mail if you have received this message in
error.

Dear Mr. Miles,

The official Records Custodian for the Township of Howell, received your
OPRA request on December 4, 2023. As such, the seven (7) business day
deadline to respond to your request is December 13, 2023.

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: IA-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 3, 2024.

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 Howell 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.

Regards,

Xiomara Ortiz

Administrative Assistant III

Clerk’s Office

4567 Route 9 North

2nd Floor

Howell, NJ 07731

(732) 938-4500 Ext. 2241

[email address]

NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY
This message, including any prior messages and attachments, may contain
advisory, consultative and/or deliberative material, confidential
information or privileged communications of the Township of Howell. Access
to this message by anyone other than the sender and the intended
recipient(s) is unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient of
this message, any disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken or not
taken in reliance on it, without the expressed written consent of the
Township, is prohibited. If you have received this message in error, you
should not save, scan, transmit, print, use or disseminate this message or
any information contained in this message in any way and you should
promptly delete or destroy this message and all copies of it. Please
notify the sender by return e-mail if you have received this message in
error.

Good Afternoon,

Based upon the volume of records in your request, it has been determined
that a special service charge will be required prior to processing your
OPRA request. OPRA allows public agencies to impose special service
charges whenever fulfilling a records request requires “an extraordinary
expenditure of time and effort”. See N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(c).  Special service
charges must be based upon the actual direct costs to the public entity of
the provision of such documents. Your request has been reviewed, and it is
estimated that it will take Howell PD approximately 23.45 hours to review
and (if necessary) redact the requested documents. The estimate is based
upon a conservative estimate of it taking 1 minute, per every 10 emails to
review and redact if necessary. There are 14,070 items that will need to
be reviewed. The Township will need the individual who’s email log it is
to review the information as they will have the first-hand knowledge if
something relates to a confidential police matter. Here, John Yurgel’s
rate is estimated at $88.23 per hour. As such, your special service charge
is estimated to be $2,068.99.

The Township will require a deposit of 50% to begin working on your
request. The Township will track it’s time while working on your request
and the final special service charge will be based upon actual time spent
– which could be more or less than the Township’s original estimate. The
balance of your special service charge will be due once the OPRA request
is completed.

Please advise if you would like the Township to process your OPRA request
at this time.

Regards,

Xiomara Ortiz

Administrative Assistant III

Clerk’s Office

4567 Route 9 North

2nd Floor

Howell, NJ 07731

(732) 938-4500 Ext. 2241

[email address]

NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY
This message, including any prior messages and attachments, may contain
advisory, consultative and/or deliberative material, confidential
information or privileged communications of the Township of Howell. Access
to this message by anyone other than the sender and the intended
recipient(s) is unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient of
this message, any disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken or not
taken in reliance on it, without the expressed written consent of the
Township, is prohibited. If you have received this message in error, you
should not save, scan, transmit, print, use or disseminate this message or
any information contained in this message in any way and you should
promptly delete or destroy this message and all copies of it. Please
notify the sender by return e-mail if you have received this message in
error.