Stormwater Utility Rate Study
Charlie Kratovil made this OPRA request to New Brunswick City Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.
Dear New Brunswick City,
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:
Rate study conducted by Arcadis in preparation for the New Brunswick Stormwater Utility
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,
Charlie Kratovil
Dear Requestor,
Please be advised, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1, the document requested is currently a working document not available for release.
Regards,
Leslie R. Zeledón, City Clerk
City of New Brunswick
78 Bayard Street, Rm. 201
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
732.745.5041 (phone)
732.745.5009 (fax)
Dear Ms. Zeledon,
I reviewed your citation, and do not see any references to "working documents" in the OPRA statute. Can you clarify what you meant by this? Why do you believe the document is not available for release? Is there a specific OPRA exemption that you believe applies to this record? Regardless, I'll note that my request was also filed pursuant to the common law right of access, and I would respectfully suggest that my interest in obtaining the record as a reporter that covers the City of New Brunswick outweighs the city's interest in keeping it secret.
Yours sincerely,
Charlie Kratovil
I am currently out of the office. For immediate assistance please call the
office at (732) 745-5041 or email my Deputy Clerk at
[email address]. Thank you.
Leslie Z.
City Clerk
I'm re-sending this message as I never received a response - it is
regarding my OPRA/CL request "Stormwater Utility Rate Study" -CK
Dear Ms. Zeledon,
I reviewed your citation, and do not see any references to "working
documents" in the OPRA statute. Can you clarify what you meant by this?
Why do you believe the document is not available for release? Is there a
specific OPRA exemption that you believe applies to this record?
Regardless, I'll note that my request was also filed pursuant to the
common law right of access, and I would respectfully suggest that my
interest in obtaining the record as a reporter that covers the City of New
Brunswick outweighs the city's interest in keeping it secret.
Yours sincerely,
Charlie Kratovil
Mr. Kratovil,
This email is for clarification purposes. Pardon me for using the term “
working document” instead of the term “draft”. The document requested is
currently in draft form, therefore is not subject for disclosure at this
time. For the record, the City has no interest is keeping the document a
secret. Feel free to resubmit your request at a later date, if the
document is finalized, then the document will be released.
Regards,
Leslie R. Zeledón, City Clerk
City of New Brunswick
78 Bayard Street, Rm. 201
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
732.745.5041 (phone)
732.745.5009 (fax)
From: Charlie Kratovil <[email address]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 8, 2024 2:20 PM
To: Leslie Zeledon <[New Brunswick City request email]>
Cc: [OPRA #67047 email]
Subject: Stormwater Utility Rate Study
I'm re-sending this message as I never received a response - it is
regarding my OPRA/CL request "Stormwater Utility Rate Study" -CK
Dear Ms. Zeledon,
I reviewed your citation, and do not see any references to "working
documents" in the OPRA statute. Can you clarify what you meant by this?
Why do you believe the document is not available for release? Is there a
specific OPRA exemption that you believe applies to this record?
Regardless, I'll note that my request was also filed pursuant to the
common law right of access, and I would respectfully suggest that my
interest in obtaining the record as a reporter that covers the City of New
Brunswick outweighs the city's interest in keeping it secret.
Yours sincerely,
Charlie Kratovil
Dear Ms. Zeledon,
Thank you for your reply. The reason I asked for this record is that it was mentioned during the May 15 City Council meeting as a justification for setting the rate structure for the city's new stormwater utility. I was therefore under the impression that the study was completed at that time, as it was being used for such a purpose. However, from what I understand now thanks to your email, the rate structure for the New Brunswick Stormwater Utility was established based on a draft of a study, rather than a completed study.
Do you have a sense of when this study might be completed and made available to the public? Thanks.
Yours sincerely,
Charlie Kratovil
Dear Ms. Zeledon,
Checking back about this document I requested. Please advise.
Yours sincerely,
Charlie Kratovil
Dear Requestor,
The document requested remains in draft form, and is not subject to
release at this time. Thank you.
Best Regards,
Shalon T. Bennett, RMC
Deputy Clerk
City of New Brunswick
City Clerk’s Office Rm 201
78 Bayard Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(732) 745-5041 (phone)
(732) 745-5009 (fax)
Dear New Brunswick City,
I'm following up on my request for the Stormwater Utility Rate Study. When will it be made public?
Yours faithfully,
Charlie Kratovil
Dear Mr. Kratovil,
Kindly be advised that the City of New Brunswick is in receipt of your email dated January 18, 2025 in which you state, "I'm following up on my request for the Stormwater Utility Rate Study”. While this current communication has been submitted through OPRA Machine in its present form this is not a proper OPRA request. As you are aware, requestors are not required to use an OPRA request form; however, a written equivalent not containing the form requirements of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(f) and N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g) may be denied by a custodian. Kindly be guided accordingly in the future.
As you were previously advised in our responses of 10/2/24 and 10/8/24 there was no responsive document subject to disclosure at that time, and you could resubmit a request at a later date. If this is your attempt to submit a new request for the document titled “Stormwater Utility Rate Study” be advised that the requested document remains in draft form that has not been finalized and is therefore not subject to disclosure at this time.
As for your question, "When will it be made public?” That is not a proper OPRA request as it seeks information instead of an actual record or document.
Regards,
Leslie R. Zeledón, City Clerk
City of New Brunswick
78 Bayard Street, Rm. 201
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
732.745.5041 (phone)
732.745.5009 (fax)
Dear Ms. Zeledon,
Following up on my request from 2024 for the Stormwater Utility Rate Study. Please provide it.
Yours sincerely,
Charlie Kratovil
Dear Mr. Kratovil,
Kindly be advised that the City of New Brunswick is in receipt
of your email dated April 17, 2025 in which you state, "Following up on my
request from 2024 for the Stormwater Utility Rate Study”. While this
current communication has been submitted through OPRA Machine in its
present form this is not a proper OPRA request. As you are aware,
requestors are not required to use an OPRA request form; however, a
written equivalent not containing the form requirements of N.J.S.A.
47:1A-5(f) and N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g) may be denied by a custodian. Kindly
be guided accordingly in the future.
As you were previously advised in our responses of 10/2/24,
10/8/24 and 1/23/2025 there was no responsive document subject to
disclosure at that time, and you could resubmit a request at a later
date. If this is your attempt to submit a new request for the document
titled “Stormwater Utility Rate Study” be advised that the requested
document remains in draft form that has not been finalized and is
therefore not subject to disclosure at this time. Thank you.
Best Regards,
Shalon T. Bennett, RMC
Deputy Clerk
City of New Brunswick
City Clerk’s Office Rm 201
78 Bayard Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(732) 745-5041 (phone)
(732) 745-5009 (fax)
Dear New Brunswick City,
Once again following up on my 2024 request for the Stormwater Utility Rate Study. Please provide an update and timeline for when the record will be made public.
Yours faithfully,
Charlie Kratovil
Dear Mr. Kratovil,
Kindly be advised that the City of New Brunswick is in receipt of your email, which was submitted through OPRA Machine, dated July 3, 2025, with a Subject Line of “OPRA Request - Stormwater Utility Rate Study”. This is not a proper OPRA request, and is therefore denied. As you are aware, requestors are not required to use an OPRA request form; however, a written equivalent not containing the form requirements of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(f) and N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g) may be denied by a custodian.
If it is your intention to submit an OPRA request for the document titled “Stormwater Utility Rate Study” please resubmit your request with the proper certifications as required by the statute. Thank you.
Best Regards,
Shalon T. Bennett, RMC
Deputy Clerk
City of New Brunswick
City Clerk’s Office Rm 201
78 Bayard Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(732) 745-5041 (phone)
(732) 745-5009 (fax)
Dear New Brunswick City,
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-5(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:
Rate study conducted by Arcadis in preparation for the New Brunswick Stormwater Utility
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,
Charlie Kratovil