Letter 1 THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT I THE NEW YORK STATE ARCHIVES David F. lowry, Regional Advisory Officer 900 Dutchess Turnpike Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 (845) 485-2633 E-mail: dlowry@mail.nysed.gov March 19, 2001 Gloria Morse Town Clerk T own of Wappinger PO Box 324 Wappingers Falls, NY 12590 Dear Ms. Morse: I enjoyed my visit to Wappingers Town Hall on March 8, 2001 where you gave me a tour of the Town Hall's records storage areas and also two off-site storage areas at the Oakwood shed and the Highway Department. I would like to summarize and document the major points we discussed during this visit. Wappingers most apparent records management problem is one shared by many municipalities: lack of proper storage space. We discussed certain steps the town can take to alleviate this problem including: . the systematic disposition of obsolete records . the reformatting of all records with a fifteen year retention period or longer to microfilm . the refurbishing of a room at Town Hall and the Oakwood Shed for records storage . the hiring of a consultant to study possible computer technology solutions The Town can apply for funds through the State Archives' Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) to pay for the above expenses and other records management program development projects. To date only the Town Justice Court has taken advantage of these funds. Wappingers may apply for two $75,000 grants per grant cycle to aid in the development of a records management program. Over the past decade many municipalities have received over a half million dollars from the LGRMIF We also discussed the fact there are some steps the town can take before applying for grant funds. One thing I would suggest is that all records be removed from the attic of the Highway Department building right away. The floor load capacity appears w~ak, there is ~o clim~te control,jbe records ar9?us~til?Je t~vermi~n r and other pests and many appear past theIr legal retentIOn period. ~ }U-~ -tif t~/l-aH-' ~ Although the development of records management program may tale many years there are many benefits ' including increased efficiency and work production, cost savings, a cleaner safer work environment that boosts employee moral, an enhanced professional image for the Town and the ensuring of public access to public records. I look forward to working with you and other town officials over the coming years in the development and improvement of the Town ofWappingers records management program. itJ 4- , David F. Lowry Regional Advisory Officer