The city engineer shall have charge and custody of all public maps, charts, plans, profiles, surveys, books, papers and other property pertaining to his office and shall cause an accurate record and index of the same to be made, which together with field notes of all surveys and other data collected, shall be carefully preserved in his office and shall be the property of the city and shall be delivered over to his successor in office at the expiration of his term or upon his resignation or removal from office. Upon application to the city engineer at his office, the maps, profiles and other papers in his office shall be open to inspection by any applicant in the city engineer’s presence, but none of the same shall be removed from the office nor shall any alterations or marks of any kind be made upon them, except by permission of the city engineer. All data and records of the office shall always be open and accessible to the mayor and other city officials for any information desired by them, upon application to the city engineer.
Copies of any records, plats, etc., shall be furnished by the city engineer upon application and payment of a fee to be established by the city engineer. The city engineer shall certify to the correctness of such copy when requested. (Code 1953, § 2.18)