Hello,

The Township of Neptune received an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request
on February 14, 2023. As such, the seven (7) business day deadline to
respond to your request is March 1, 2023.

The request was for:

“Records requested: any and all correspondence, email, letters, mail,
contracts, bills, agreements, text messages, or other forms of
communication between members of the public, professionals, the mayor,
deputy mayor, chief of police, council members, township employees
(including the Town Business Administrator) regarding the issue of
“pickleball”, requests for proposals, environmental impact assessments,
engineering cost assessments, plans, drawings, site detail and design,
site visits or any other materials related to the proposed project at the
Beverly Way Field from August 2021 through the present date. Additionally,
I request and correspondence, email, text messages, letters written
between the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, Mr. Michael Badger and
the Mayor, Deputy Mayor,  town council members, township employees
(including the Town Business Administrator) regarding the issue of
“pickleball” during the same period.”

In response to your request for:

 1. “Any and all correspondence, email, letters, mail, contracts, bills,
agreements, text messages, or other forms of communication between
members of the public, professionals, the mayor, deputy mayor, chief
of police, council members, township employees (including the Town
Business Administrator) regarding the issue of “pickleball”:

• The GRC established criteria deemed necessary under OPRA to
specifically request an email communication in Elcavage v. West
Milford Twp. (Passaic), GRC Complaint No. 2009-07 (April 2010). The
Council determined that to be valid, such requests must contain:

◦ the content and/or subject of the email,
◦ the specific date or range of dates during which the email(s) were
transmitted, and
◦ the identity of the sender and/or the recipient thereof.

See Elcavage, GRC 2009-07; Sandoval v. NJ State Parole Bd., GRC Complaint
No. 2006-167 (Interim Order March 28, 2007). The Council has also applied
the criteria set forth in Elcavage, to other forms of correspondence, such
as letters. See Armenti v. Robbinsville Bd. of Educ. (Mercer), GRC
Complaint No. 2009-154 (Interim Order May 24, 2011).

• In Verry v. Borough of South Bound Brook (Somerset), GRC Complaint
No. 2009-124 (April 2010), the complainant’s OPRA request sought all
e-mails to or from a particular e-mail account for a specific time
period. The custodian’s counsel responded advising the complainant
that his OPRA request was invalid because it represented an
open-ended search of the Borough’s files. The Council held that the
complainant’s request was invalid under Elcavage, GRC 2009-07 because
it did not include a subject or content. Id. at 7. Herein, the
Complainant’s OPRA request sought e-mails from all employees for a
certain date range. However, similar to the request at issue in
Verry, the request here did not identify a subject or the content of
the e-mails sought. For this reason, the request did not meet the
express criteria necessary to appropriately request e-mails and is
thus invalid. The GRC notes that the Complainant’s clarified request
identified specific senders/recipients. However, the clarification
did not cure the deficiency of this request because the Complainant
did not include a subject or content.
• Pursuant to NJSA 47:1A-1.1 it has been determined that this request
does not qualify as a document request pursuant to the OPRA laws and
the definition thereof. 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.
Pursuant to MAG Entertainment, LLC v Div. of Alcoholic Beverage
Control, 375 N.J.Super. 534, 868A2d 1067 (App.Div.2005), and Bent 381
NJ Super 30. 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.

Therefore, I respectfully deny your request at this time.

 2. “..requests for proposals, environmental impact assessments,
engineering cost assessments, plans, drawings, site detail and design,
site visits or any other materials related to the proposed project at
the Beverly Way Field from August 2021 through the present date.”:

• As required, the following was published on the Township Website in
advance of the public hearing on this matter:

▪ Beverly Way Concept Plan:

[1]https://neptunetownship.org/sites/defaul...

▪ Beverly Way Park Improvements, Cost Estimate:
[2]https://neptunetownship.org/sites/defaul...
▪ Environmental Impact Assessment:
[3]https://neptunetownship.org/sites/defaul...

Please note that there are no responsive records to “requests for
proposals” as the project is not in a stage to enter an agreement, it was
a concept plan proposal for Green Acres funding.

 3. “Additionally, I request and correspondence, email, text messages,
letters written between the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, Mr.
Michael Badger and the Mayor, Deputy Mayor,  town council members,
township employees (including the Town Business Administrator)
regarding the issue of “pickleball” during the same period.”:

• Please see the attached file, “OPRA 23-100, Response Correspondence Re
Pickleball (Redacted)”
• A Vaughn Index has been provided for the citations of the listed
redactions.
• A search of text messages from the following individuals: Committeeman
Nicholas Williams, Committeeman Robert Lane, Committeeman Robert Lane,
Mayor Keith Cafferty, and Business Administrator Gina LaPlaca in which
produced the attachments, “Lane 23-100 Text Messages”. There were no
responsive records for the other Committee Members or the Business
Administrator.
• The Clerk’s Department is still waiting for correspondence from the
electronical devices of the Committee Members Deputy Mayor Tassie York
and Committeeman Dr. Brantley, once this is provided, we will produce
the records of text message correspondence if there are responsive
records.

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 Neptune 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 [4][email address], or at
their web site at [5]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.

Dainene Roberts

Township Deputy Clerk & Rent Leveling Board Secretary

Township of Neptune

25 Neptune Blvd

Neptune, NJ 07753

[6][email address]

732.988.5200 Ext. 235

Office Hours

Monday- Friday, 8:00AM-4:00PM

References

Visible links
1. https://neptunetownship.org/sites/defaul...
2. https://neptunetownship.org/sites/defaul...
3. https://neptunetownship.org/sites/defaul...
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.state.nj.us/grc
6. mailto:[email address]

Hello,

The Township of Neptune received an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request
on February 14, 2023.

In response to your request for:

• “Additionally, I request and correspondence, email, text messages,
letters written between the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, Mr.
Michael Badger and the Mayor, Deputy Mayor,  town council members,
township employees (including the Town Business Administrator)
regarding the issue of “pickleball” during the same period.”:

◦ A search of text messages from the following individuals:
Committeeman Dr. Brantley and Deputy Mayor Rev. Tassie York
resulting in no responsive records based on the request.

Thank you.

Dainene Roberts

Township Deputy Clerk & Rent Leveling Board Secretary

Township of Neptune

25 Neptune Blvd

Neptune, NJ 07753

[1][email address]

732.988.5200 Ext. 235

Office Hours

Monday- Friday, 8:00AM-4:00PM

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]