Resolution Number 2025-03-01

Resolution Repealing And Replacing Resolution No. 2014-07-02, Designating The Official Custodian Of Records And Adopting A Policy On Responding To Open Records Requests

Whereas, the Upper Thompson Sanitation District ("District") is established and operates under the auspices of Title 32, C.R.S. as a separate political subdivision of the State of Colorado; and 

Whereas, pursuant to§ 32-1-l00l(l)(h), C.R.S., the Board of Directors ("Board") is responsible for the management, control and supervision of the business and affairs of the District; and 

Whereas, as a governmental entity, the District is subject to and required to comply with the Colorado Open Records Act, § 24-72-200.1 - 206, C.R.S., ("CORA'); and 

Whereas, the Board has determined that it is appropriate to repeal and replace Resolution 2014-07-02 with updated information designating the Official Custodian of the District's records for the protection of such records and in order to permit their inspection by persons entitled to examine and copy such records in an orderly fashion; and 

Whereas, the Board has determined that it is appropriate to repeal and revise its policy to update the policy to present practices and technology updates, and by this Resolution to adopt the policy on responding to open records requests; and 

Whereas, the Board fully supports, and complies with, all State of Colorado ("State") laws relating to the retention, protection and disclosure of District records including, but not limited to CORA; and 

Whereas, it is the policy of the District that all public records shall be open for inspection by any person at reasonable times, except as otherwise provided by law; and 

Whereas, public records are defined by CORA as all writings made or maintained by the District, regardless of the format or medium of the records, and public records expressly include e-mail communications, subject to certain exceptions.

Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved by the Board of Directors of the Upper Thompson Sanitation District: 

1. Official Custodian. 
   1. The District Manager is hereby designated as the Official Custodian responsible for the maintenance, care and keeping of all records of the District, except as provided herein. 
   2. The Official Custodian shall have the authority to designate such agents as they shall determine appropriate to perform any and all acts necessary to enforce and execute the provisions of this Resolution. 
2. Policy on Responding to Open Records Request. The following are general policies concerning the release of records:  
   1. All public records of the District shall be open for inspection at the times designated herein, unless prohibited by the provisions of CORA, by Court order, or policies adopted by the Board in conformance with CORA. 
   2. Every request to inspect and/or copy any District record (a "Records Request") shall be submitted to the Official Custodian in writing, following any requirements of the Official Custodian, including but not limited to the "Colorado Open Records Act policy" attached hereto and incorporated herein as Exhibit A (the "CORA Policy") and the use of an Open Records Request Form as attached hereto and incorporated herein as Exhibit B (the "CORA Form"). If not submitted to the Official Custodian, any District employee or Board Member that receives a Records Request is not authorized to respond to such request, and is expected to immediately send the Records Request to the Official Custodian upon its discovery, so the Official Custodian may log the Records Request as received. Nothing herein shall serve as a waiver or limitation on any of the policies contained in the CORA Policy, and records shall be logged as received by the Official Custodian according to such CORA Policy. To assist the Official Custodian in responding to requests in a timely and complete manner, the Official Custodian requires records requests to be submitted on the CORA Form. 
   3. The Official Custodian shall determine the District's obligations under the applicable law(s). If the District is permitted to make records available for inspection in whole or in part, the Official Custodian will assemble the applicable requested documents for inspection and/or copying. 
   4. If the Official Custodian determines the District is not permitted by law to make records available for inspection in whole or in part, the Official Custodian shall provide a written response to the party submitting the Records Request stating the basis upon which the Records Request in whole or in part is being denied. 
   5. Following the denial of a request for a record, upon receipt of the required written notice from the requesting individual that he or she will seek relief from the District Court, the Official Custodian will attempt to meet in-person or speak by telephone with the requesting individual. District personnel are encouraged to utilize all possible means to attempt to resolve any dispute over records during this time period and will provide a written summary of the District's position at the end of that period to the requestor and to the Board Chairman.  
   6. Pursuant to CORA, all records must be made available for inspection within 3 working days from the Official Custodian's receipt of the request, unless extenuating circumstances exist. A request is considered "received" by the Official Custodian the day the CORA Form is opened and in accordance with the requirements of the CORA Policy. The deadline may be extended by 7 working days if extenuating circumstances exist and the requesting party is notified of the delay within 3 working days of the Official Custodian's receipt of the request. The Official Custodian may set the time during normal office hours and the place for records to be inspected, and require that the Official Custodian or a delegated employee be present while the records are examined. 
   7. A public record stored in a digital format that is neither searchable nor sortable will be provided in a digital format. A public record stored in a digital format that is searchable and/or sortable will be provided in such digital format, unless (1) the public record is in a searchable or sortable format and producing the record in the requested format would violate the terms of any copyright or licensing agreement between the District and a third party; (2) producing the record would result in the release of a third party's proprietary information; (3) after making reasonable inquiries, it is not technologically or practically feasible to provide a copy of the record in a searchable or sortable format; or (4) if the Official Custodian would be required to purchase software or create additional programming functionality in its existing software to remove the information.
   8. The Custodian may charge the reasonable fees and require a deposit of fees as set fo1ih in the CORA Policy and as updated periodically by the schedule of fees adopted by the State (collectively, the "Fees") for responding to a Records Request. If the estimated Fees to produce the records exceeds $100, the District may require a 50% deposit of the estimated Fees prior to commencing work to produce the records. Regardless of whether a deposit is required, payment of all Fees, including all actual costs exceeding the estimated amount, must be made prior to the time of inspection or release of the final work product or copies. 
   9. No person shall be permitted to inspect or copy any records of the District if, in the opinion of the Official Custodian, such inspection or copying would come within the prohibition of one or more exemptions set forth in CORA. 
   10. Any increases in the Fees set forth in the CORA Policy, including without limitation the Research and Retrieval Fee, shall be effective immediately upon posting on the District's website. 
3. Severability. If any part, section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Resolution is for any reason held to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. 
4. Effective Date. This Resolution shall take effect and be enforced immediately upon its approval by the Board.  

The foregoing Resolution was approved and adopted this 18th day of March 2025. 

Upper Thompson Sanitation District
By: Christopher L. Eshelman, Chairman

Attest: Susan L. Doylen, Vice Chairman/Secretary

Exhibit A 
Colorado Open Records Act Policy 

The Upper Thompson Sanitation District (the "District") is committed to the uniform application of policies and open government. This policy is designed to help the District and the Official Custodian to uniformly balance the statutory requirements of CORA with the daily operations of the District, and to inform the public seeking records of important policies of the District which will guide in efficiently handling a Records Request. 

Office Procedure for Handling Records Requests: 

The District will only accept records requests made in writing or electronically via email using the CORA Form and submitted to the Custodian of Records. Requests should be directed to the Custodian of Records as stated in the CORA Form. The District will not accept or respond to any attempted records request made verbally, in person or over the telephone (including via text message), or via any unofficial means including social media. Requests for an interview or other verbal response, or requests for a response to questions, are not considered a request for records, and may, but are not required, to be referred to a department head or the Board for consideration or response within the discretion of the appropriate District representative. 

The District will make every effort to respond within three working days. The three working-day response time begins the first working day following receipt of the request. Due to the nature of business needs, a request received after 3:00 p.m. or any day the business office of the District is officially closed, or the Custodian of Records is not scheduled to work will be considered received as of the following working day. The District may add up to a seven-working-day extension if extenuating circumstances exist, including if the requestor makes a voluminous or broad request. 

Fees: 

The District will charge the requestor for all copying expenses and for staff time after the first hour, in accordance with the fees established in CORA. 

1. When the location or existence of specific documents must be researched and the documents must be retrieved, sorted or reviewed for applicability to the request, and such process requires more than one (1) hour of staff and/or consultants' time, the Custodian may charge a nominal research and retrieval fee not to exceed $41.3 7 per hour, or the maximum amount allowed by the Executive Committee of the State Legislative Council at the time of the request, whichever is greater (the "Research and Retrieval Fee"). 
2. If any requested records are protected by a privilege (for example, but not limited to, the work product or attorney-client privileges) the District may charge the actual costs of creating a privilege log identifying the privileged records (the "Privilege Fee"). If legal assistance or review is necessary to create the privilege log, the Privilege Fee may include the actual costs for such legal assistance. 
3. A service fee of $.25 per page of paper records copied or assembled shall apply to paper/hard copies of records. 
4. Before fulfilling any CORA Request which the Official Custodian believes will require payment of a Research and Retrieval Fee, a Privilege Fee or any service fees for paper copies, the Official Custodian will provide a cost estimate to the requestor. The cost estimate will include the estimated time for staff to search for, retrieve, redact, assemble, and transmit the records, In extraordinary circumstances, the use of a third-party contractor may be necessary and will be discussed with the requestor in advance to determine the cost. The statutory timeframe the Custodian has to complete the request will begin once the requestor has approved the cost estimate and submitted the advance deposit. If the actual cost to process the request is less than the estimate, the requestor will be provided with a refund of the amount paid in excess. If the actual cost to process the records exceeds the estimate, the requestor must pay the additional fee prior to retrieving records. 

Additional Information of Use for Requestors: 

The Official Custodian may contact the requestor in an attempt to clarify or narrow a request to reduce the estimated staff time and fees required to fulfill these requests. While not required, requesters may want to provide phone and e-mail contact info1mation to facilitate communication regarding the request. Excluding searches of paper records or voluminous electronic searches and providing specific information on the nature of the documents requested, the timeframe the request covers, and other details such as the potential staff who may be affected, can help the District fulfill the request in a manner that may provide cost savings to the requestor. 

Except for records which are included in a Board packet and/or discussed fully in a public meeting where official action may be taken, draft documents or other internal documents or records prepared for but not yet approved by the Board may be restricted or open for inspection subject to the discretion of the Official Custodian. The Official Custodian shall follow CORA to the best of their ability, including observing all mandatory exceptions to release of records. In any situation where CORA states the Official Custodian may (but is not required to) release records, the Official Custodian shall use their best judgment regarding the best interests of the District and the public under the circumstances as to whether a record should be provided. 

Abandoned Requests: 

If the Official Custodian attempts to contact a requestor to clarify a request or discuss the scope of a request and the requestor does not respond within ten business days, the Official Custodian will close the request and require the requestor to submit a new records request. 

The District will hold records assembled in response to a CORA request for no more than ten business days after the requestor has been notified that the records are available for inspection or pick-up. The holding period may be shorter for records which are needed for any use. Failure to inspect or pick up the records within this timeframe will be considered an abandoned request, and the request will be automatically closed. 

Official Custodian contact information is available on the CORA Form.