Request for Capital Improvement Project Information
Dear Mount Laurel 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 NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.
I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.
Records requested:
I am requesting access to public records relating to the following capital improvement projects undertaken by Mount Laurel Township between January 1, 2020, and October 1, 2025:
Capital Projects:
The purchase of the municipal building at 750 Centerton Road
The purchase and/or renovation of the Laurel House at 562 Walton Avenue
The construction of a track and artificial lake near the rear entrance of Laurel Acres Park, located at or near 1029 Union Mill Road
The renovation of the Larchmont Tennis Courts at 295 Larchmont Boulevard
The installation of the Marne Turf Field at 3207 Marne Highway
The purchase of the property at 2901 Marne Highway for the proposed splash park
For each of these projects, I am requesting records that show the following:
Total cost of the project
Any related township resolutions, contracts, or agreements
Invoices, payment records, or summary expense reports
The source of funds used (e.g., township budget, capital improvement fund, grants, bond financing)
If applicable, documentation showing any state or federal grants awarded or used to fund the project, including grant award letters or applications
Please provide the responsive records in electronic format (PDF or Excel preferred).
If any part of this request is unclear or overly broad, I am happy to clarify or narrow the scope. If any records are withheld or redacted, please state the legal basis for the denial or redaction as required by OPRA.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Anthony Galetti
[email address]
Dear Requestor:
Mount Laurel Township received your Open Public Records Act request delivered by email on Friday, October 1, 2025. Please accept this timely response.
Your request seeks the following:
I am requesting access to public records relating to the following capital improvement projects undertaken by Mount Laurel Township between January 1, 2020, and October 1, 2025:
Capital Projects:
The purchase of the municipal building at 750 Centerton Road
The purchase and/or renovation of the Laurel House at 562 Walton Avenue
The construction of a track and artificial lake near the rear entrance of Laurel Acres Park, located at or near 1029 Union Mill Road
The renovation of the Larchmont Tennis Courts at 295 Larchmont Boulevard
The installation of the Marne Turf Field at 3207 Marne Highway
The purchase of the property at 2901 Marne Highway for the proposed splash park
For each of these projects, I am requesting records that show the following:
Total cost of the project
Any related township resolutions, contracts, or agreements
Invoices, payment records, or summary expense reports
The source of funds used (e.g., township budget, capital improvement fund, grants, bond financing)
Response: Request denied. Significantly for present purposes, OPRA only allows requests for records, not requests for information. MAG Entm't, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 546-49 (App. Div. 2005). In this regard, OPRA "is not intended as a research tool ... to force government officials to identify and siphon useful information." Id. at 546. In other words, a records custodian is not required "to conduct research among its records... and correlate data from various government records in the custodian's possession." Id. at 546-47. To qualify under OPRA then, the request must reasonably identify a record and not generally data, information or statistics.
OPRA does not "authorize a party to make a blanket request for every document" a public agency has on file. Gannett New Jersey Partners L.P. v. County of Middlesex, 379 N.J. Super. 205, 213 (App. Div. 2005). Rather, a party requesting access to a public record under OPRA must specifically describe the document sought. OPRA operates to make identifiable government records "readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination." N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1. As such, a proper 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. OPRA does not authorize unbridled searches of an agency's property.
Here, your request seeks a broad range of potentially responsive documents. There are likely 1,000s of records in multiple departments that could be responsive to this overbroad request.
Thank you,
Meredith Riculfy, RMC/CMFO/CMR/QPA
Township Manager/Clerk
750 Centerton Road
Mount Laurel NJ 08054
856.234.0001 ext 1233
856.234.8240 fax