Dear Mr. Santiago,

            The Borough received an OPRA request from you on January 4,
2022 and required additional time to ensure that it could accurately
respond to the inquiries you have made. Kindly accept this response.  

1.       A list of all residential single family, and multi family
properties with code violations on them for the last 3 months from today.
Address, and owner name provided please.

RESPONSE: Please see attached documents; however, in accordance with OPRA,
the owner’s names have been redacted because the Borough has a
responsibility and an obligation to protect a citizen’s personal
information from disclosure when the disclosure of that information would
violate the citizen’s reasonable expectation of privacy. See N.J.S.A.
47:1A-1; see also Burnett v. Cnty. of Bergen, 198 N.J. 408 (2009)(finding
OPRA imposes “an obligation on public agencies to protect against
disclosure of personal information which would run contrary to reasonable
privacy interests.”)

2.       A list of all residential vacant land, single family and multi
family properties that are currently in the probate process.

RESPONSE: N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 states that a "Government
record" or "record" means any paper, written or printed book, document,
drawing, map, plan, photograph, microfilm, data processed or image
processed document, information stored or maintained electronically or by
sound-recording or in a similar device, or any copy thereof, that has been
made, maintained or kept on file in the course of his or its official
business by any officer, commission, agency or authority of the State.

The records in question were not made, maintained, and kept on file in the
course of official business.  Therefore, they do not fall under the
definition of a “government record” and the Borough is not in possession
of the requested document.

3.       A list of all residential  single family, and multi family
properties that are in the eviction process.

RESPONSE: See Response to No. 2.

4.       A list of all residential vacant land, single family, and multi
family properties that are going through the divorce process.

RESPONSE: See Response to No. 2.

5.       A list of all residential single family and multi family
properties that are delinquent on their utilities. Address, owner name,
and balance owed provided please.

RESPONSE:N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 states that a "Government
record" or "record" means any paper, written or printed book, document,
drawing, map, plan, photograph, microfilm, data processed or image
processed document, information stored or maintained electronically or by
sound-recording or in a similar device, or any copy thereof, that has been
made, maintained or kept on file in the course of his or its official
business by any officer, commission, agency or authority of the State.

First, the Borough is unable to respond to this inquiry as presently
stated because it is vague and/or unclear what is meant by “utilities.”
Kindly provide clarification so that the Borough is able to respond to the
request because, as presently stated, the request is denied because it
fails to identify a specifically identifiable record, is vague and/or
overbroad.  See, e.g., MAG Entm’t, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage
Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534 (App. Div. 2005), Bent v. Stafford Police
Dep’t, 381 N.J. Super. 30 (App. Div. 2005), N.J. Builders Ass’n v. N.J.
Council on Affordable Hous., 390 N.J. Super. 166 (App. Div. 2007),
and Schuler v. Borough of Bloomsbury, GRC Complaint No. 2007-151 (February
2009).

Second, to the extent you are seeking information the Borough has a
responsibility and an obligation to protect from disclosure due to a
citizen’s reasonable expectation of privacy, the request is
denied. See N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1; see also Burnett v. Cnty. of Bergen, 198
N.J. 408 (2009)(finding OPRA imposes “an obligation on public agencies to
protect against disclosure of personal information which would run
contrary to reasonable privacy interests.”)

Finally, the Governor issued an Executive Order that limited the
collection of late fees and assessment for utilities.  While that
Executive Order recently lapsed, further clarification would be required
for the Borough to be able to respond to this inquiry.

6.       A list of all residential single family and multi family
properties that are flagged abandoned.

RESPONSE: See Response to No. 2. Notwithstanding those objections, the
Borough is not in possession of any documents responsive to this request.

7.       A list of all residential single family and multi family
properties that are fire damaged in the past month.

RESPONSE: See Response to No. 2. Notwithstanding those objections, the
Borough is not in possession of any documents responsive to this request.

8.       A list of all residential single family and multi family
properties that have had their utilities shut off for 6+ months

RESPONSE: See Response to No. 5. Notwithstanding those objections, the
Borough is not in possession of any documents responsive to this request.

Law Office of Victoria A. Flynn LLC
1385 Rte. Hwy. 35, Room 246 | Middletown, NJ 07748
201.486.2718 | [1][email address]     
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