November 3, 2000; City of Inver Grove Heights
11/3/2000 10:15:43 AM
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. It is based on the facts and information available to the Commissioner as described below.
Facts and Procedural History:For purposes of simplification, the information presented by the person who requested this opinion and the response from the government entity with which the person disagrees are presented in summary form. Copies of the complete submissions are on file at the offices of IPA and, except for any data classified as not public, are available for public access. On August 31, 2000, IPA received a letter dated August 28, 2000, from T.M. Cooney. In his letter, Mr. Cooney requested that the Commissioner issue an opinion regarding his access to data that the City of Inver Grove Heights maintains. IPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to James Willis, Administrator of Inver Grove Heights, in response to Mr. Cooney's request. The purposes of this letter, dated September 11, 2000, were to inform him of Mr. Cooney's request and to ask him to provide information or support for the City's position. On September 21, 2000, IPA received comments, dated same, from Mr. Willis. A summary of the facts is as follows. In a letter dated June 20, 2000, Mr. Cooney wrote to Mr. Willis, the City's attorney, and the City's Mayor. In his letter, Mr. Cooney raised his concerns regarding an access road to and acquisition of particular property - in which Mr. Cooney is an owner - located in Inver Grove Heights. (Mr. Cooney wrote that in 1978, the City approved a plat of the property immediately east of the property called Whistlewood Farms and that in 1983, the City approved a plat of the remaining property to the east called Whistlewood Farms II. Mr. Cooney stated that these plats and subsequent developments removed the existing access road to his property.) Mr. Cooney wrote: If IGH goes forward with acquisition of fee title, under the Freedom of Information Act , and as a property owner, I demand to be notified of any and all hearings on said matter and copied on any and all work product, including notes, memoranda, plans, plats, e-mail, correspondence and records of telephone conversations amongst and between IGH staff and city council relative to this potential acquisition, now and continuing into the future until final disposition of this matter. In a letter dated June 28, 2000, Mr. Willis responded. He wrote: We have not been able to locate City files dealing with the plats of Whistlewood Farms and the Whistlewood Farms II and I cannot comment on the issue as to whether or not you were noticed of the public hearings held with respect to consideration of the respective plats and/or the impact of those two plats upon access to your property. If you have information, which might help to clarify this issue for me, I would appreciate receiving it. The City has acquired, from time-to-time, title to tax forfeit property in the general area of your property for public purposes. The City's Comprehensive Plan contemplates public park/open space use of this area.... I would be pleased to meet with you to review the City's Comprehensive Plan for the area, and attempt to address any other matters of interest to you regarding your property. In a letter dated July 19, 2000, Mr. Cooney wrote again to Mr. Willis, the City's attorney and the Mayor. He asked for the following data: 1. All city files dealing with Whistlewood Farms and Whistlewood Farms Second Addition. 2. The card catalogue/list pertaining to and used by Inver Grove Heights and the public for the purpose of storage and reference of said files for the period 1972-Present. 3. The precise current physical location of the archive section known to be the repository of said files, as well as a list of all persons having access to said files in said period. 4. All minutes of City Council meetings; planning, zoning; park commission meetings in which any and all references were made to the Dakota land and development property and Whistlewood and Whistlewood II Farms Second Addition. 5. All work product, including notes, memoranda, plans, plats, aerial photographs, e-mail, correspondence, and records of telephone conversations amongst and between any and all Inver Grove Heights staff, city council members and/or any commission member relative to the aforesaid. 6. A list of all individuals and their known address, from the period 1973-Present, including IGH staff, council, and any commission member, outside contributors including but not limited to the survey co.; the landowners of Whistlewood and Whistlewood Farms Second Addition. 7. Furthermore, I demand an on site review of all the aforesaid before the materials are dispersed. In a letter dated August 17, 2000, Mr. Willis responded. He wrote: I am writing this letter to confirm our telephone conversation of this date. In your letter of July 19 you requested information dealing with the Whistlewood Farms and the Whistlewood Farms Second Additions in the City of Inver Grove Heights. Your letter also requested additional information dealing with the Whistlewood Developments. As I indicated to you, our planning staff has searched our City files and has been unable to locate files dealing with the Whistlewood Farms and the Whistlewood Farms Second Addition. We have located minutes from City Council meetings of September 25, 1978..., July 25, 1983..., and the Planning Commission minutes of April 4, 1978...that deal with the Whistlewood Farms development. Copies of these minutes are enclosed. We would be pleased to make space available to you to review our City records at a mutually convenient time. Please call Mr. Bill Turnblad...at your convenience in order that he might attempt to satisfy your requirements. He has spent a considerable time seeking to find documents dealing with these two developments. Mr. Cooney then requested this opinion. Issue:In his request for an opinion, Mr. Cooney asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 1, government data are public unless otherwise classified by state statute or federal law. Subdivision 1 of section 13.03 also requires that government entities keep records containing government data in such an arrangement and condition as to make them easily accessible for convenient use. Further, pursuant to subdivision 2 of section 13.03, the responsible authority in each entity must establish procedures...to insure that requests for government data are received and complied with in an appropriate and prompt manner. In his opinion request, Mr. Cooney took issue with the City's position. He stated, I have been in contact with Mr. WM. Meeker and Mr. Curtis Gutoske, both former city planners for IGH and have learned that the files in question existed during their tenure and were referenced and locatable through a card catalogue' system. In his response to the Commissioner, Mr. Willis wrote: On or about June 2000, and July 19, 2000, Mr. T.M. Cooney made written requests to the City with respect to two (2) plats. Although the requests itemize various elements of information for the plats, the requests essentially asked for all data concerning the approval of Whistlewood Farms and Whistlewood Farms 2nd Addition. I responded to the requests by letter dated June 28, 2000, and August 17, 2000. My responses and Mr. Cooney's inquiries have been previously provided to you. The responses can be summarized as follows: bull; after searching for the two (2) planning files, the City has been unable to locate them. bull; the City sent Mr. Cooney copies of the Planning Commission and Council minutes that relate to the plats bull; the City invited Mr. Cooney to come to City Hall and review any records he wants to perhaps help us in identifying whether the files may be mistakenly indexed or mistakenly filed. The City cannot give Mr. Cooney data that the City cannot find.... When Mr. Cooney's requests were made, I assigned Bill Turnblad, the City's Planning Supervisor, the task of locating the planning files concerning Whistlewood Farms and Whistlewood Farms 2nd Addition. At the City, the practice has been to keep the correspondence, letters, reports, and memoranda relating to plats in the planning file for each plat. Bill Turnblad found the card index for Whistlewood Farms, but he has not located the file. He searched in the file archives; he searched in the current planning files, he spent about four hours looking. We reported this to Mr. Cooney in the responses we sent him as well as in the telephone conversations I have had with him. The City's open invitation to come to City Hall and assist Bill Turnblad in looking at other indexes is genuine. Obviously, Mr. Cooney has been involved with this subject for awhile; he may have a name, a cross-reference, a developer's business name or other piece of information that could trigger further paths of investigation for the City. The Commissioner is unable to make a determination regarding Mr. Cooney's contention that the data he seeks do exist in a file and the City's position that it can't locate the data. If the City possesses the data, and knows where they are located, it must provide Mr. Cooney with access to the files immediately, pursuant to section 13.03. Mr. Willis maintains that the City has been unable to locate the planning files Mr. Cooney requested. It is correct that if the requested data do not exist, the City is not obligated to create data to respond to the request. However, Mr. Willis does not seem to be making a definitive statement that the data do not exist. Rather, he has stated that the City cannot find the information. Pursuant to section 13.03, the City must keep records containing government data in such an arrangement and condition as to make them easily accessible for convenient use. Also pursuant to section 13.03, the City must establish procedures...to insure that requests for government data are received and complied with in an appropriate and prompt manner. If the City maintains the data, pursuant to Chapter 13, it must be able to locate the information so that it can respond to Mr. Cooney in an appropriate and prompt manner, and within a reasonable time. If the City does not possess the data, it should have so informed Mr. Cooney. However, if the City does not maintain the data Mr. Cooney requested, there may be official records and records management implications. Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 15.17, all officers and agencies of cities shall make and preserve all records necessary to a full and accurate knowledge of their official activities. If some of the requested data constitute official records, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 138.17, the City is required to maintain those data for a certain period of time. Disposal of records should be done only according to a schedule that is of a public nature. Finally, while nothing precludes Mr. Cooney from going to the City offices and offering assistance in locating certain files, it is not a requirement for access to public records that are or should be maintained by the City. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue Ms. Cooney raised is as follows:
Signed:
David F. Fisher
Dated: November 3, 2000 |
Copy costs
Existence of data
Response to data requests
Misplaced or lost documents
Data not found
