New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 16 - TRANSPORTATION › Chapter 20B - MUNICIPAL LOCAL AID › Subchapter 4 - MUNICIPAL AID › Section 16:20B-4.2 - Engineering and right-of-way costs

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) A grant
				recipient under the local aid program shall be permitted to expend up to five
				percent of its aid allotment for design purposes in the fiscal year beginning
				July 1, 2019, and every fiscal year thereafter for those purposes.
				Additionally, municipalities qualified by the Department of Community Affairs
				for Urban Aid funding pursuant to
				N.J.S.A.
				52:27D-178et seq., or for Depressed Rural
				Centers Aid or any municipality demonstrating special need as approved by the
				Department, may, at the discretion of the Commissioner, be reimbursed for
				engineering and right-of-way acquisition in addition to construction costs,
				provided that the amount does not exceed the total amount allotted for the
				project. Justification submitted by the municipality may include its inability
				to advance a project due to lack of funds, lack of staff, lack of expertise, or
				other extenuating circumstances. Department staff shall recommend acceptance or
				rejection of the special need request to the Commissioner for his or her final
				decision. The Commissioner's final decision shall be based on need, on a
				case-by-case basis.
(b) The
				Department may participate in the cost of engineering to be accomplished by a
				consultant engaged by the municipality or by the municipalitys full-time
				engineering staff for municipalities eligible pursuant to (a) above. Prior
				approval of the Departments participation in the cost of engineering fees shall
				be obtained before any engineering services are performed.
(c) A qualified municipal government desiring
				Department participation in the cost of engineering shall submit the scope of
				services to be performed by the engineer to the Department.
(d) The Department may participate on a
				reimbursement basis in the cost of lands and/or easement rights acquired for
				right-of-way for municipalities qualified pursuant to (a) above. Municipal
				governments seeking Department participation in the cost of right-of-way
				acquisition shall make a request to the appropriate district office and provide
				justification and right-of-way maps depicting the lands and/or easement rights
				necessary to be acquired before beginning any right-of-way acquisition activity
				for a project. Costs associated with the right-of-way acquisition, such as
				appraisal and administrative costs, shall not be eligible for reimbursement.
				All property shall be purchased in accordance with the provisions of the Local
				Lands and Buildings Law,
				40A:12-1 et seq.
(e) Cost shall be the actual purchase price
				amount paid for each parcel of land or easement rights acquired for the project
				as a result of a negotiated purchase agreement or, where negotiations have
				failed, the just compensation amount awarded by the courts for a particular
				parcel as a result of a subsequent condemnation action.
(f) Right-of-way acquisition activities by
				municipalities shall be conducted in accordance with all requirements and
				conditions set forth within the State of New Jersey Uniform Eminent Domain Law
				of 1971, N.J.S.A. 20:3-1 et seq.
(g) The municipality shall provide a
				relocation plan and accomplish relocation assistance in accordance with the
				Relocation Assistance Act,
				20:4-1 et seq., and with all
				published procedures, conditions, and requirements of the Department of
				Community Affairs pertaining to this statute, when owner or tenant occupants of
				any property being acquired for a project will be displaced.
(h) Department participation amounts shall be
				returned by the municipality to the Department for properties acquired with
				Department participation that are later declared by the municipality as excess
				to the project and sold.