[Added 3-21-1994 by Ord. No. 4-94; amended 5-19-1997 by Ord. No. 15-97; 9-21-1998 by Ord. No. 31-98; 3-15-2004 by Ord. No. 6-04]
There is hereby established an Open Space, Recreation
and Farmland Preservation Committee which shall consist of five members
whose terms and powers are hereinafter set forth.
The Open Space, Recreation and Farmland Preservation
Committee shall be comprised of the following persons:
A.
The member of the Township Committee appointed to
the Open Space, Recreation and Farmland Preservation Committee shall
have a term of one year.
B.
The terms of the citizen members shall be for three
years, except that the terms of not more than two citizen members
shall expire in any one year; provided, however, that the terms of
two citizen members first appointed shall not exceed one and two years,
respectively.
A.
The Open Space, Recreation and Farmland Preservation
Committee shall from time to time submit written recommendations to
the Township Committee as to:
(1)
Which parcels of land should be acquired for recreation
and conservation purposes and whether such parcels should be acquired
in fee or only by acquisition of development rights.
(2)
Which of the lands acquired for those purposes should
be developed and/or maintained.
(3)
Which farmland should be acquired for farmland preservation
purposes and whether such farmland should be acquired in fee or only
by acquisition of development rights.
B.
The Open Space, Recreation and Farmland Preservation
Committee shall submit to the Township Committee a prioritized list
of properties:
C.
After selection of the properties to be acquired, developed, maintained or preserved 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., or to develop, maintain or preserve the identified parcels within the financial constraints established by the Township Committee.
The Open Space, Recreation and Farmland Preservation
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 Open Space, Recreation and Farmland Preservation
Committee shall select from among its members a Chairman and a Vice
Chairman to serve as the 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 meetings and records
of the proceedings of the Committee.
The Open Space, Recreation and Farmland Preservation
Committee shall hold its initial organization meeting shortly after
this ordinance takes effect.
A.
There is hereby established a reserve in the general
capital fund, which shall be known and designated as the “Open
Space, Recreation and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund” (hereinafter
the "trust fund"). A separate bank account shall be opened and maintained
for this purpose.
B.
Funds from the trust fund may, as directed by the
Township Committee, be utilized to acquire vacant land, as well as
land which has improvements upon it at the time of acquisition where
the purpose of the acquisition is for recreation and conservation
purposes, or for farmland preservation purposes. In the event that
the Township Committee shall find it appropriate to apportion the
cost of acquisition between land and improvements, it may do so and
charge the trust fund for the approximate value that it deems appropriate
relative to land and the Township’s capital account for the
value that it determines shall be attributed to improvements. Trust
funds may also, as directed by the Township Committee, be used for
the development and/or maintenance of lands acquired for recreation
or conservation purposes and/or for the payment of debt service on
indebtedness issued or incurred by the Township for any of the above
purposes except for the maintenance of lands acquired for recreation
and conservation purposes.
C.
The trust fund shall be funded through the dedication
to the fund of an amount not to exceed $0.02 per $100 of assessed
valuation of each annual tax levy. The trust fund shall also be permitted
to accept donations and testamentary bequests. The funds accumulated
within the trust fund may be utilized for the acquisition of land
or development rights in land or as a down payment for the issuance
of bonds for the same purpose or for any other purpose established
herein at the discretion of the Township Committee. Any and all interest
accruing shall remain in the trust fund and may be utilized for the
above-described purposes.
No property acquired with funds from the trust
fund shall be leased or sold until the sale or lease of the same has
been authorized by an ordinance adopted by the Township Committee
and provided that the Township Committee shall replace any land conveyed
under this section with land of at least equal fair market value and
of reasonably equivalent usefulness, size, quality and location to
the land conveyed. Any monies derived from the conveyance shall be
deposited into the trust fund and used for the purposes authorized
by this article. Any such conveyance shall be made in the manner prescribed
by law.
