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R e c o r d s M a n a g e m e n t P o l i c y
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___________________________________________________
TOWN OF BRIDGEWATER
RECORDS MANAGEMENT POLICY
____________________________________________________
1.0
TITLE
This policy may be sited as the "Records Management Policy".
2.0
SCOPE
2.1
This policy is applicable throughout the Town of Bridgewater, including all
departments in the municipal unit under the authority of the Chief Administrative
Officer (CAO), and throughout all of the municipal unit's agencies, boards, and
commissions.
3.0
PURPOSE
3.1
To establish effective management control and administration over the receipt,
creation, use, maintenance, storage, and the ultimate disposition of all information,
regardless of format, through the Laserfiche Records Management System and to
do so in a flexible manner that is user-friendly and tailored to meet user need.
3.2
To support compliance with the Municipal Government Act, Part XX - Freedom of
Information and Protection of Privacy, and other relevant legislation.
3.3
To designate Offices of Primary Responsibility (OPR) for the creation and
maintenance of a particular file class of records regardless of format.
3.4
To convert the Town of Bridgewater into a primarily paperless organization except
in instances where original hard copies are required to be maintained (ie: archival
records).
4.0 INTERPRETATION
In this policy:
4.1
"COUNCIL" means the Council of the Town of Bridgewater;
Policy #: 80
Date of Approval: 22 Nov 2021
Resolution#: 21-239
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4.2
"RECORDS MANAGER" means the person designated and authorized by the Chief
Administrative Officer (CAO) of the Town of Bridgewater, to act on behalf of the
Town to manage and maintain the Records Management System;
4.3
"OFFICE OF PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY" means the department which is
responsible and accountable for the creation, maintenance, and custody of the
master record. This reduces the un-necessary retention of duplicates.
4.4
"MANUAL" means the AMA Records Management Manual; 3rd Edition 2017, as
amended from time to time;
4.5
"RECORD" as described in Part XX - Municipal Government Act which is defined
as "books, documents, maps, drawings, photographs, letters, vouchers, papers and
any other thing on which information is recorded or stored by graphic, electronic,
mechanical or other means, but does not include a computer program or any other
mechanism that produces records; (Section 461[h])
4.6
"RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM" means an electronic system used by the
Town of Bridgewater to manage the records of the Town of Bridgewater from
record creation through to records disposal using the AMA Records Management
structure integrated into the Laserfiche Records Management Software System.
4.7
"LASERFICHE" is a document management software which assists an organization
in the management, sharing, and searching of documents in secure setting;
4.8
"ELECTRONIC FILING' is a computer based filing system for storage, cataloguing
and retrieval of documents within a large database. It replaces hard-copy/paper
documents.
4.9
"PAPERLESS FILING" also known as "paper-free" is an office environment which
uses
minimal
physical
paper
and
uses
primarily
digital
documents.
5.0
RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ESTABLISHED
The Town of Bridgewater, in accordance with Section 34(1) of the Nova Scotia Municipal
Government Act, hereby adopts the Association of Municipal Administrators Records Management
Manual, 3rd Edition 2017,and any subsequent updates, as its authorized classification system and
records retention schedule.
6.0
COMPLIANCE WITH RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
6.1
All records in the custody and control of the employees of the Town of Bridgewater
are the property of the Town of Bridgewater;
6.2
All records of the Town of Bridgewater must comply with the Records Management
System and this policy; and
6.3
All employees and management of the Town of Bridgewater must comply with this
policy.
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7.0
RECORDS MANAGER
The Chief Administrative Officer shall designate a Records Manager. The Records Manager is
responsible for the management and maintenance of the Records Management System.
8.0
MAINTENACE OF THE MANUAL
The Records Manager is authorized to maintain the Manual as part of the Records Management
System and to amend the Manual, consulting with the Records Management Committee where
such amendments impact or change the records schedule. Records of the Town of Bridgewater
must be created, accessed, maintained and disposed of only as provided by the Manual. The
Manual includes a Records Retention Schedule that prescribes the period of time that records are
kept to meet the operational, legal, regulatory, financial or other requirements of the Town of
Bridgewater. The Records Retention Schedule also provides instructions as to the manner and
time of the disposition of a record.
9.0
INTEGRITY AND AUTHENTICITY MAINTAINED
The Records Management System must maintain the integrity and authenticity of records made
or kept in the usual and ordinary course of business.
10.0 AUTHORIZATION TO AMEND MANUAL
The Records Manager is authorized to amend the Manual as required based on the needs of the
Town.
11.0 RECORDS DISPOSAL
When the Records Manager determines that the retention period for a given record has ended, as
described in the Records Retention Schedule, the Records Manager shall prepare a list of the
records to be destroyed, or otherwise disposed of, in accordance with the instructions outlined in
the Records Retention Schedule. This list shall be provided to the Chief Administrative Officer who
if necessary, reviews and consults with department heads on specific records, then authorizes:
11.1
all records whose retention period has expired under an approved records and
retention schedule and has not been transferred to archives must be destroyed
unless:
a)
a request under Part XX, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy,
Municipal Government Act is pending on the record;
b)
the subject matter of the record is pertinent to a pending or actual
government investigation, audit, litigation or legal claim; or
c)
The Department Head for the record requests the record(s) be retained for
an additional period with such request stating the reason for the continued
retention.
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11.2
that a Certificate of Destruction be signed and retained permanently, along with
information about the records series title, date range and date of destruction. A
sample records destruction approval form is included in Appendix "A".
12.0 DOCUMENT DISPOSAL
Nothing in this policy shall authorize the destruction of the following records:
12.1
Records that are required by Section 34(2) of the Municipal Government Act:
-
Records that are required by an enactment to be retained
-
Bylaws, policies, minutes, agendas and resolutions of Council
12.2
Other Records:
Category
Record Type
Planning &
Development
Municipal Planning Strategy & Land Use Bylaw; subdivison plans;
development agreements; development permits
Building Matters
Building Permits;Occupancy Permits; Building Inspection Reports
Municipal Structures
Plans (Survey/Engineering/Architectural) and specifications for any
municipal structure; building; utility; road, sewer, waterline; permits
and other approvals by regulator authorities
Financial
Annual financial statements, general ledgers, Auditor's Reports
Contracts/ Collective
Agreements
Government Construction, Partnerships, Employment Contracts,
Labour Contracts (CUPE, PANS)
Miscellaneous
Documents historical in nature, Summary Sheet confiming
destruction of documents with date of destruction; Legal Matters and
supporting correspondence; Cemetery documentation; Heritage
Registry; Strategic Plan(s)
Election
Nomination Papers, Election Results
13.0 DOCUMENT STORAGE
13.1
Electronic Filing to be carried out on all documents where possible.
13.2
Hard copies to be kept of any documents where electronic filing is not possible or
as required by the guidelines established in accordinance with section 14.
13.3
Filing/Storage of documents in the "Office of Primary Responsibility" which is
described as the office for which the document was originally created and
maintained.
14.0 DOCUMENT SCANNING PARAMETERS
14.1
The Records Manager with establish guidelines for electronic storage of records to
ensure adequate DPI resolution, based on record type and Optical Character
Recognition Mode (searchable text).
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SCHEDULE "A"
RECORDS DISPOSAL/DESTRUCTION AUTHORIZATION
SECTION "A": IDENTIFICATION
Municipal Unit:
Town of Bridgewater__________
Address:
60 Pleasant Street, Bridgewater, NS B4V 3X9
Contact Name:
____________________________________________
Contact Phone:
____________________________________________
SECTION "B": RECORDS DESCRIPTION
BOX
NUMBER
CLASSIFICATION
NUMBER
DESCRIPTION OF RECORD/BOX
CONTENTS
** use additional paper if more space needed
SECTION "C": AUTHORIZATION
The records described above are eligible for disposal, in accordance with the
Records Management Policy, by:
Destruction
Transfer to archive (vault/storage room DND [do not destroy])
Other (specify): __________________________________________________
I, _______________________ authorize the disposal of the records listed above as scheduled.
(Chief Administrative Officer)
________________________________
____________________________
Date
Chief Administrative Officer