Request for Clarification

Dear Mr. Cronkite:

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your submittal titled “FOIA Questions to Ask Officials of the City of Biddeford” and accompanying email with additional question “29”, received by the City via email on July 29, 2021. The Freedom of Access Act is a state statute that is intended to guarantee access to the "public records" and "public proceedings" of state and local government bodies and agencies. The Act does not require or contemplate that municipalities create new documents, convert information contained in documents to a new format, or answer questions that do not result in the production of public records.

Your submittal does not request the production of existing public records. Rather, you have posed a series of questions to the City. That being said, the City attempts to respond to FOAA requests as completely and timely as possible and understands that clarification may be needed in order to comply. Therefore, we are requesting clarification on the intent of your submittal. Are you requesting a narrative response to the questions you have submitted or was your intent to request that the City produce public records associated with the questions you have submitted?

Once we understand the intent of the request we may need to follow-up with you again to obtain clarification on specific items before we can prepare an estimate of time and cost.

Please email me to clarify your intent and we will proceed from that point.

Best,

Danica Lamontagne

City of Biddeford

Communications Coordinator

danica.lamontagne@biddefordmaine.org

207-282-8423