Opra Request
Dear Denville Township,
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 use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.
I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.
Records requested:
Tax Delinquent
- A list of all property addresses that have an unpaid property tax bill for the last 12 months. Please also include in the list or separately a list of properties whose property tax bill was liened against the property.
Water Shut Off / Utility Liens
- A list of all property addresses that have had their water bill liened against the property, have failed to pay their water bill, or have had the water shut off at any point in the last 12 months.
Fire Damage List
- A list of all property addresses that the fire department has received an emergency call to in the last 90 days.
Code Violation
- A list of property addresses that have received any code violations in the last 6 months
Vacant List
- A list of all properties that the city deems to be currently vacant or abandoned.
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,
Nathan
Hello,
You submitted an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) Request Form to Denville Township which was received by the Municipal Clerk on 4/15/25.
Your OPRA request sought access to the following lists:
“…Tax Delinquent…unpaid property tax bill for the last 12 months...separately a list of properties whose property tax bill was liened against...”
Please see attached records responsive to this portion of your request.
“…failed to pay water bill...”
Please see attached record responsive to this portion of your request.
“…Fire Damage List…last 90 days...”
Please see attached record responsive to this portion of your request. Redactions have been made to EMS-related addresses pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 (HIPAA) and Executive Order 26.
"...Code Violation..."
The Township neither maintains a list containing the information you seek nor is able to run an electronic report to provide the information. Creating such a list would require research by the custodian, which is not required under OPRA. See MAG Entm’t, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 546, 549 (App. Div. 2005) (“OPRA simply operates to make identifiable government records readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination.”); Lagerkvist v. Office of Governor of State, 443 N.J. Super. 230, 237 (App. Div. 2015) (“OPRA does not convert a custodian into a researcher.”)
"...Vacant List..."
The Township neither maintains a list containing the information you seek nor is able to run an electronic report to provide the information. Creating such a list would require research by the custodian, which is not required under OPRA. See MAG Entm’t, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 546, 549 (App. Div. 2005) (“OPRA simply operates to make identifiable government records readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination.”); Lagerkvist v. Office of Governor of State, 443 N.J. Super. 230, 237 (App. Div. 2015) (“OPRA does not convert a custodian into a researcher.”)
Regards,
Matt
Matthew Bansch, RMC, QPA, CMR
Municipal Clerk
Township of Denville
1 St. Mary’s Place
Denville, NJ 07834
Ph: (973)625-8300 Ext. 232
Fax: (973) 627-2709