Township of Ontelaunee
Berks County, Pennsylvania
Open Records Policy
Open Record Officer
The Township of Ontelaunee (“Township”) has designated Kim Y. Berger as the Township Open Records Officer. The Open Records Officer may be reached at:
35 Ontelaunee Drive
Reading, PA 19605
Fax: 610-926-5476
General
All documents deemed public records shall be available for inspection, retrieval, and duplication at the Municipal Building during established business hours (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Mon – Fri) with the exception of weekends and holidays.
Requests
Requests shall be made in writing to the Township Open Records Officer on a form provided by the Township or the form provided by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records.
Fees
Paper copies shall be Twenty-Five Cents ($0.25) per page per side. The certification of a record is One Dollar ($1.00) per record. Specialized documents including, but not limited to blue prints, color copies, and non-standard sized documents shall be charged the actual cost of production. If mailing is requested, the cost of postage will be charged. The Township shall require prepayment if the total fees are estimated to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
Response
The Township shall make a good-faith effort to provide the requested public record(s) as promptly as possible. The Open Records Officer shall cooperate with those requesting records to review and/or duplicate original Township documents while taking reasonable measure to protect township documents from the possibility of theft, damage, and/or modification.
The Open Records Officer shall review all written requests for access to public records. As soon as possible, but no later than five (5) business days after receiving a written request to access public records, the Open Records Officer shall respond to such requests in writing consistent with Act 3 of 2008, the Right-to-Know Law.
If access to a record is denied, the response shall include a reason for denial as stipulated in Act 3 of 2009, the Right-to-Know Law.
Contact Information for Appeals
If a written request is denied or deemed denied, the requester may file an appeal in writing to:
Terry Mutchler
Executive Director
Office of Open Records
Commonwealth Keystone Building
400 North Street, Plaza Level
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0225
Appeals of criminal records shall be made to the District Attorney of Berks County:
John T. Adams, Esq.
Berks County Services Center
633 Court Street, 5th Floor Reading, PA 19601
Appeals Process
The appeal shall be filed within fifteen (15) business days of the mailing date of the Township’s response or within fifteen (15) business days of a deemed denial. The appeal shall state the grounds upon which the requester asserts the records is a public record and shall address any grounds stated by the Township for delaying or denying the request.