[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of Verona 12-16-2019 by Ord. No.
2019-36. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
There is hereby established a reserve in the General Capital Fund,
which shall be known and designated as the "Municipal Open Space,
Recreation and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund." A special
bank account shall be opened and maintained for this purpose. The
Council is authorized, by majority vote, to make the acquisition of
lands or acquisition of property or easements within the Township
in accordance with this chapter. The governing body shall determine
the amount of funds that it will make available for each acquisition
after conducting at least one public hearing thereon in accordance
with N.J.S.A. 40:12-15.7a(2). Funds from the Municipal Open Space,
Recreation and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust may be utilized
to acquire by gift, purchase, or by eminent domain proceedings, easements,
vacant land, as well as land which has improvements thereon at the
time of acquisition, where the principal purpose of the acquisition
is for any and all of the following purposes or any combination thereof:
(1)
Acquisition of lands for recreation and conservation purposes;
(2)
Development of lands acquired for recreation and conservation purposes;
(3)
Maintenance of lands acquired for recreation and conservation purposes;
(4)
Historic preservation of historic properties, structures, facilities,
sites, areas or objects and the acquisition of such properties, structures,
facilities, sites, areas or objects for historic preservation purposes;
or
B.
The funds from the account may also be used to acquire land which
has improvements on it at the time of acquisition; provided, that
the principal purpose of the acquisition is to preserve open space.
In the event that the governing body shall find it appropriate to
apportion the cost of acquisition between open space and improvement,
it may do so and charge the Open Space Trust Fund for the approximate
value that the governing body deems relative to open space and the
Township's capital account for the value that it determines attributable
to improvements.
Beginning in 2020, a special tax rate shall be added to the
total Township tax rate in the amount of $0.02 per $100 of the assessed
valuation of all real property within the Township. The Fund shall
also be permitted to accept donations and testamentary bequests. The
Open Space, Recreation and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust
Fund created by this article shall be administered in accordance with
applicable statutory provisions, including, without limitation, N.J.S.A.
40:12-15.1 et seq.
No real property or interest therein acquired with funds from
the Trust Fund shall be sold, conveyed, leased or otherwise alienated,
unless it is needed for another public purpose or otherwise further
the purposes of the Trust. If such a sale, lease or conveyance is
made, the Township shall do so in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:12-15.9.
There is hereby established an Open Space Trust Fund Advisory
Committee which shall consist of nine members whose terms and powers
are hereinafter set forth.
A.
The Open Space Trust Fund Advisory Committee shall be comprised of
the following persons:
(1)
Township Manager;
(2)
Two members of the Township Council appointed by the Council;
(3)
Six residents of the Township to be appointed by the Council;
(4)
The Director of the Community Services and the Chief Financial Officer
shall serve as ex officio members of the Committee and shall have
no vote on the Committee.
B.
The residents appointed by the Council shall hold no other municipal
office, position or employment in the Township.
The term of the Township Manager, the Director of Community
Services and the Chief Financial Officer shall correspond to their
respective tenure. The term of the Council members shall be for one
year beginning on July 1 or terminate at the completion of their respective
terms of office, whichever occurs first. Public members shall be appointed
by the Council and shall serve for terms of three years beginning
on July 1, except that, the term of the members first appointed pursuant
to this section shall be distributed evenly over the first three years
after their appointments so that the term of not more than two public
members shall expire in any one year.
A.
The powers and duties of the Open Space Trust Committee shall be
limited to those enumerated herein. The Open Space Trust Committee
shall serve in an advisory capacity to the Township Council.
B.
The Open Space Trust Committee shall prepare a report recommending
the parcels of land which may be acquired in fee and/or those parcels
of land from which the Township should acquire development rights
only. The Committee shall also develop and maintain an updated plan
outlining the Committee's recommendations for the acquisition,
development and maintenance of lands for recreation and conservation
purposes and the historic preservation of historic properties, structures,
facilities, sites, areas or objections. The Committee shall submit
to the Township Council the properties which it recommends that the
Township acquire. The Township Council shall review the properties
submitted and make a determination as to which properties, if any,
are to be acquired.
C.
After reviewing the properties referred to herein, the Township Council
may proceed to acquire, by gift, purchase or by eminent domain proceedings,
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 20:3-1 et seq., the identified parcels or parcels
recommended by the Council within the financial constraints established
by the Township Council.
D.
The Open Space Trust Committee shall hold public meetings, which
public meetings shall be held in accordance with the Open Public Meetings
Act (N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.), and the Committee shall give appropriate
notification of said meetings.
E.
The Township Manager if appointed as a member of the Committee or
the senior most Councilmember on the Committee shall serve as Chairperson
of the Open Space Trust Fund Advisory Committee, and the Open Space
Trust Fund Advisory Committee shall select from among the six citizen
members a Vice Chairman to serve as a presiding officer in the absence
of the Chairman. The Township Clerk shall serve as the Secretary to
the Committee whose function shall be to maintain minutes of the Committee's
meeting and record of the proceedings of the Committee.
