Source: https://ecode360.com/5105711
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 00:22:07+00:00

Document:
§ 51-3 Terms of office.
§ 51-4 Powers and functions.
§ 51-6 Municipal Open Space, Recreation, Floodplain Protection, and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund.
§ 51-7 Accumulation and use of funds.
§ 51-8 Sale of property.
§ 51-9 Review of Committee activities; report.
There is hereby established an Open Space Committee which shall consist of seven members and whose terms and the powers of the Committee are hereinafter set forth.
Two citizens of the Township appointed by the Township Council.
The citizens appointed by the Mayor and the Township Council shall hold no other municipal office, position, or employment in the municipal government.
The Mayor and the member of the Township Council appointed to the Open Space Committee shall have terms which shall correspond with the term of their respective elective offices.
The Administrative Officer shall serve as a member of the Open Space Committee as long as he or she is employed by the Township in the capacity of Township Administrative Officer.
One of the citizens of the Township appointed by the Mayor and one appointed by the Township Council and so designated by the Mayor and Township Council at the time of appointment shall have a term of three years.
One of the citizens of the Township appointed by the Mayor and one appointed by the Township Council and so designated by the Mayor and Township Council at the time of appointment shall have a term of two years.
The terms of members of the Open Space Committee appointed by the Mayor and/or the Township Council pursuant to Subsections C and D of § 51-3, after their initial terms pursuant to said subsections, shall be three years.
The Open Space Committee shall make an initial determination of which parcels of land should be acquired in fee and/or those parcels of land from which the Township should acquire development rights only.
The Open Space Committee shall submit to the Township Council a prioritized list of properties to be acquired and/or properties from which development rights should be acquired. The Township Council shall, within 45 days, either approve, disapprove, or modify the list as submitted and state the amount of funds that the Council shall make available for such acquisition. If the Township Council shall fail to act affirmatively by either approving, disapproving or modifying the list submitted by the Open Space Committee within 45 days after submission, the list shall be deemed approved as submitted by the Committee in its entirety with full financial authorization.
After approval of the list referred to in Subsections A and B above, the Township may proceed to acquire, by gift, purchase or by eminent domain proceedings pursuant to N.J.S.A. 20:3-1 et seq., the parcels as prioritized on the list, within the financial constraints established by the Township Council.
The Open Space Committee may employ and/or contract for professional services by legal counsel, appraisers and staff as it may deem necessary subject to budget appropriation and Township Council passage of professional services resolutions establishing the rates of compensation to be paid.
The Open Space Committee shall hold public meetings, which public meetings shall be held in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, and the Committee shall give appropriate notification of said meetings.
The Mayor shall serve as Chairman of the Open Space Committee, and the Open Space Committee shall select from among the four citizen members a Vice Chairman to serve as a presiding officer in the absence of the Chairman. The Committee shall also select a Secretary whose function shall be to maintain minutes of the Committee's meeting and records of the proceedings of the Committee.
The Open Space Committee shall hold its initial organization meeting shortly after this chapter takes effect.
Not less than $0.01 shall be used for the acquisition of lands for recreation and conservation purposes.
The foregoing provisions in § 51-7A(1) through (3) to the contrary notwithstanding, in the event that the governing body determines, from time to time, that funds are not required for the purposes set forth in § 51-7A(1) and (2), the governing body shall allocate the funds, in amounts to be determined by the governing body, for the purposes set forth in § 51-7A(3).
The funds as allocated in § 51-7A may be utilized as a down payment for the issuance of bonds or the payment of debt service on indebtedness issued or incurred by the Township for any of the purposes set forth in § 51-6A, B, D, E, or G, at the discretion of the governing body. For purposes hereof and in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:12-15.1, "acquisition” shall mean the securing of a fee simple or lesser interest in land, including, but not limited to, an easement restricting development, by gift, purchase, installment purchase agreement, devise or condemnation.
No property acquired with these funds from the Municipal Open Space, Recreation, Floodplain Protection, and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund shall be leased or sold until the sale or lease of same has been approved by the voters at a referendum.
In the event that no property is acquired under this chapter for a period of three consecutive years, then the Mayor and Township Council shall review the activities of the Open Space Committee and issue a report with recommendations and conclusions concerning the Municipal Open Space, Recreation, Floodplain Protection, and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund.

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