OPRA-Req-23-1550
Date Received: 12/4/2023
Status: Under Review
Applicant: Old Bridge Watchdog
Information Requested: Copy of Old Bridge PBA Local 127 Grievance
regarding Bereavement Leave (2023) Copy of PERC ruling for
Bereavement Grievance (2023) Total invoices and/or bills paid to
Robert Merryman Esq for representing Old Bridge Township in this
grievance matter The invoice to Old Bridge Township for the
arbitration hearing (cost of hearing o fficer)

RESPONSE:
Please see the below records and response responsive to your
request
1. PBA 127 Grievance on Bereavement leave is not valid OPRA as it
is exempt pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10 personnel records

2. PERC ruling for Bereavement Grievance (2023)- is not valid OPRA
as it is exempt pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10 personnel records

3.   Total invoices and or bills paid to Robert Merryman Esq. for
representing OBT in this grievance matter : non-specific

Under OPRA, agencies are required to disclose only "identifiable"
governmental documents not otherwise exempt. Wholesale requests
for general information which have to be collated, analyzed and
compiled by the entity are not required. This governmental
custodian is not required to conduct research, analyze, collate,
compile and/or correlate data from existing government records. A
blanket request for all documents is not a document request
pursuant to OPRA and existing case law. MAG Entm't , LLC v. Div of
ABC, 375 N.J. Super. 534,546-549 (App. Div. 2005), "under OPRA,
agencies are required to disclose only 'identifiable' government
records and not otherwise exempt.. In short, OPRA does not
countenance open-ended searches of agency's files" Id. (emphasis
added). Bent v. Stafford Police Dep't. 381 N.J. Super. 30,37 (App.
Div. 2005), N.J. Builders Ass'n v. N.J. Council on Affordable
Hous., 390 N.J. Super. 166, 180 (App. Div. 2007); Schuler v.
Borough of Bloomsbury, GRC Complaint No. 2007-151 (February 2009).
This request seeks information or asks questions and does not
identify specific government records. As such, your request is an
invalid OPRA request and is denied. When a request is "complex"
because it fails to specifically identify the documents sought,
then that request is not "encompassed" by OPRA. See New Jersey
Builders Association v. New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing,
390 N.J.Super. 166, 180 (App. Div. 2007). A pr oper 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 Bent v. Stafford
Police Department, 381 N.J.Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005).
Custodians are not required to conduct research or create new
records in response to an OPRA request.

1.
Spatial Data Logic 2021