Dear Madam or Sir:

The Township of North Bergen (“Township”) writes in response to your February 15, 2022 e-mail request seeking records pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, et seq. (“OPRA”) and the common law right of access.

You sought “E-mails, call & visit logs to & from Anthony Vainieri from 2017 - present date including Subject, Timestamp, and sender from the following accounts; vainierifh @aol.com, Feb4fundraiser @gmail.com, avainieri @hcnj.us, Freeholderav @aol.com”

With respect to your request for visit logs, the Township has no records responsive to your request.

With respect to your request for e-mails, attached please find the record responsive to your request.

With respect to your request for call logs, the only “logs” available are statements from Mr. Vainieri’s personal cell phone provider. Due to the breadth of your request (5+ years of calls), the Township estimates that it would take approximately 20 hours to review the statements and make the redactions required by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1. OPRA permits public agencies to impose special service charges whenever the nature, format, manner of collation, or volume of a government record is such that fulfilling a request requires an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort. See N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.c. Accordingly, the Township will require you to place a deposit of $429.20 (20 hours x $21.46/hr [the lowest hourly rate of a clerk capable of performing the review/redaction/production]) before the review begins. If the review is completed in less time than estimated, any unused portion of the deposit will be returned to you. If the review takes longer than twenty hours, the Township will stop work and require a further deposit based on the additional amount of time estimated to complete the review. Kindly respond in writing with your acceptance or rejection of this estimated charge. We will not begin to process this request until we receive your written acceptance.

If you reject the estimated charge and you wish to challenge the special service charge, you have a right to challenge the decision. 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.

Thank you.

Erin Barillas, RMC
Township Clerk
Township of North Bergen
4233 Kennedy Boulevard
North Bergen, NJ 07047
e: [North Bergen Township request email]
p: 201-392-2024
f: 201-330-7694

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