FOAA

Your Right to Know:  The Maine Freedom of Access Act

FROM MAINE.GOV/FOAA:
 
The public has a right to information about government activities.  The Maine Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) gives the people of the State of Maine the right of access to public records while protecting legitimate governmental interests and the privacy rights of individual citizens.  FOAA also ensures the accountability of the government to the citizens of the State by requiring public access to the meetings of public bodies.  "Open government is good government"
 
In accordance with 1 MRSA § 408-A the Town shall either provide the information requested or a written response outlining why the information is not available within 5 days from the receipt of a request.  Requests received when the Town Office is closed will be considered received at 9AM on the next business day.  Information which is available in the Clerk's office is available for viewing during regular business hours.  Copies requested will be made in accordance with the fee schedule.  Research performed by the Town Employees will be charged at $25/hour after the first two hours, which shall be free.
 
The Town will make every effort to produce t he documents immediately, however, the staff member in possession of the documents is allowed to schedule a time for review so as not to disrupt their regularly scheduled workload.  FOAA requests are not required to be in writing. however this form will help maintain a record of when the request was received and specifically what records are being requested.
 
The Public Access Offiicer for the Town of Damariscotta is Rebecca Bartolotta, Town Clerk; 21 School Street Damariscotta, ME  04543 or (207) 563-5168.