Bruce and other municipal colleagues, the Municipal Act is pretty clear on this.  Section 253 (b) states that "any person may, at all reasonable times, inspect any of the records under the control of the clerk, including, minutes and proceedings of regular, special or committee meetings of the council or local board, whether the minutes and proceedings have been adopted or not."  Inspection, of course, implies permanent retention.  The pre-amble also states that this provision is subject to MFIPPA.  Regards,


Brian Masschaele, Archivist
Elgin County Archives
450 Sunset Drive
St. Thomas Ontario Canada N5R 5V1
Phone:  519-631-1460, ext. 138 Fax:  519-631-9209
E-mail:  [log in to unmask]

>>> Bruce Beacock <[log in to unmask]> 11/04/02 11:57PM >>>
A question for colleagues with responsibility for municipal records:  How
does your Retention Schedule treat records (especially minutes) of Council
Standing Committees?

Our Schedule lists total retention as 6 years subject to archival selection.  The AMCTO guide lists the recommended retention as archival, and classifies them as "vital records."

My inclination is (and practice has been) to retain such records
permanently.  However, they often contain sensitive information that would
not be found in Council minutes.  My understanding is that, under MFIPPA,
if they are retained, they must be made publicly accessible.

Has anyone else dealt with this issue?

Bruce Beacock
County Archivist
Simcoe County Archives
1149 Highway 26, RR 2
MINESING  ON  L0L 1Y0
(705) 726-9331 (t)
(705) 725-5341 (f)
[log in to unmask]
http://www.county.simcoe.on.ca