[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Middle
7-19-2004 by Ord. No. 1162-04. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Economic Development Council — See Ch. 15.
Environmental Commission — See Ch. 16.
Historic Preservation Commission — See Ch. 23.
Housing Authority — See Ch. 25.
Uniform construction codes — See Ch. 112.
Housing rehabilitation grants — See Ch. 163.
Housing standards — See Ch. 164.
Subdivision of land and site plan review — See Ch. 218.
Zoning — See Ch. 250.
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55B-1 et seq., a local community
development corporation, to be known as the "Community Development Corporation
of the Township of Middle," a New Jersey not-for-profit corporation, is hereby
created to consist of seven members, which said Corporation shall be a body
corporate, having the powers hereinafter enumerated.
A.
The members of the Corporation shall be appointed by
the Mayor. Each member shall be, for the last five years preceding his appointment,
a citizen of the United States and a qualified voter of the State of New Jersey.
One member shall be appointed for one year, one member for two years, one
members for three years, two members for four years, and two members for five
years. At the expiration of each of the above terms, the new member or members
shall be appointed for a term of five years. Vacancies in the membership of
any level, occurring for whatever cause, shall be promptly filled by appointment
by the Mayor for the unexpired term thereof. Members shall serve for their
respective terms and until their successors are appointed and qualify.
B.
Each member shall be chosen with a special view to his
qualifications and fitness for service to the Corporation. He or she shall
have had experience in community and economic development or commerce and
shall be conversant with the commercial needs and facilities of the Township
of Middle and shall be of known devotion to public service.
C.
There shall be appointed upon said Corporation, unless
local conditions shall otherwise require, at least one thoroughly competent
representative of retail/hospitality owners and operators; a representative
of labor; a representative of the clearing house or banks of said municipality;
a representative of the Chamber of Commerce; a representative of the service
clubs of such municipality; a representative of the legal profession; and
a representative of a recognized real estate dealer's association.
D.
No member, officer or employee of the Corporation shall
be interested directly or indirectly in any contracts for work or materials
used by the Corporation, or in any sales, leases or agreements in connection
with lands, buildings or other property owned or controlled by it, or in any
fees or compensation of any kind paid to any broker, architect, engineer,
merchant, or other person doing business with the Corporation or in any other
transaction of or with the Corporation, or the benefits or profits thereof.
E.
Each member and officer of the Corporation shall, before
assuming office, take and subscribe an oath that he will faithfully and impartially
discharge the duties of his office.
F.
The members and officers of the Corporation shall serve
without compensation, but each shall receive his actual disbursements for
his expenses in performing his duties.
A.
The members of the Corporation shall choose annually
from among its members a chairman or president and such other officers as
it may deem necessary. The Mayor of the Township of Middle shall be an ex
officio member thereof.
B.
A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum of
the board.
C.
At the discretion of the Township Committee, the members
and officers may be required to furnish bonds to the Corporation, to secure
the faithful discharge of their duties, in form, amount and with such surety
as may from time to time be required by resolution of the governing body of
the Township of Middle.
A.
Insofar as may be practicable, the employees and assistants
required by the Corporation shall be recruited from the public officers and
employees of the Township of Middle. The Municipal Counsel shall be the counsel
to the Corporation; the Municipal Engineer shall be the engineer of the Corporation;
and the several departments of the municipal government shall be available
to the Corporation for the purposes of the Corporation's business. Municipal
employees serving the Corporation shall do so without compensation other than
their regular compensation as employees of the Township of Middle. The Corporation
shall, from time to time, make known to the Mayor its wants in the nature
of services by employees of the Township, and the Mayor shall designate which
of the Township's employees, if any, shall render such services.
B.
To the extent that the Corporation shall deem it necessary
to carry on its function, and to the extent that it shall consider the services
of existing employees of the Township insufficient for its purposes, it may
employ such additional employees or services and at such compensation as may
be approved by resolution of the governing body of the Township of Middle.
Its requirements in this direction shall be submitted from time to time in
writing to such governing body.
C.
The civil service laws, rules and regulations of the
state, applicable to the Township of Middle, shall govern the appointment
of employees of the Corporation. Such laws, rules and regulations shall not
be deemed to prevent the use of services of existing employees, without extra
compensation therefor, nor shall the use of such services operate to enlarge
the civil service rights or the status of the municipal employee rendering
the same.
D.
The Corporation shall have and maintain a suitable office,
where its maps, plans, documents, records and accounts shall be kept, subject
to public inspection at such times and under such reasonable regulations as
the Corporation shall determine. If practicable, existing office facilities
of the Township served by the Corporation shall be used without charge by
the Township, and the office and similar equipment of the Township shall,
wherever possible, be used by and be made available for the use of the Corporation,
without charge.
To effectuate its purposes, the Community Development Corporation shall
have the following powers:
The Community Development Corporation shall constitute the corporate
instrumentality of the Township of Middle for the following purposes:
A.
To inquire into, survey and publicize the extent, advantages
and utility of the vacant lands of the Township of Middle, whether municipally
owned or otherwise.
B.
To classify such vacant lands according to their adaptability
for the settlement thereon of various types of Corporation enterprises.
C.
To advertise the economic advantages and opportunities
of the Township of Middle and the availability of real estate within the Township
of Middle for economic development, and to encourage and accomplish such development
within the Township of Middle.
D.
To solicit economic enterprises to purchase or lease
the vacant lands and property of or in the Township of Middle.
E.
To accomplish the sale or lease of the Township of Middle's
vacant lands to economic enterprises whose settlement thereon is best calculated,
in the judgment of the Corporation, to advance the interests of the Township
of Middle and of its citizens and inhabitants.
F.
To acquire title to vacant land owned by the Township
of Middle for the purpose of resale or lease to economic enterprises whose
presence within the Township of Middle will benefit in the judgment of the
Corporation, its citizens and inhabitants.
G.
To create a revolving loan program to encourage economic
enterprises in Middle Township.
A.
The Community Development Corporation shall not have
any power of condemnation or eminent domain.
B.
The Community Development Corporation shall not have
power to pledge the credit of the Township of Middle, or of any other municipality,
or of the State of New Jersey, or to create any debt against or in any manner
act as the agent of such municipality, or of the State of New Jersey.
C.
The Community Development Corporation shall have power
and authority to make an economic survey, analyzing the present and potential
possibilities of the Township of Middle, with a view to ascertaining its economic
needs, determining its resources for efficient manufacture and exploring its
probable sphere in the future development of the state and nation. In carrying
out such a survey, the Corporation may be evolved to enable them to compete
more successfully with competitors in other states; and more particularly
how they might successfully round out and enlarge the products manufactured
and services provided within the Township of Middle and with a view to diversifying
local industry and stabilizing employment conditions. The Corporation may
make any investigation deemed necessary to enable it effectually to carry
out the provisions of this chapter, and for that purpose the Corporation may
take and hear proofs and testimony and compel the attendance of witnesses
and the production of books, papers, records and documents, including public
records, and its authorized agents may enter upon any lands as in its judgment
may be necessary for the purpose of making surveys and examinations to accomplish
any purpose authorized by this chapter.
D.
The Corporation shall make an annual report to the Township
of Middle, setting forth in detail its operations and transactions for the
preceding 12 months.
E.
Nothing in this chapter provided and no authority given
to or exercised by the Corporation created under this chapter shall impair
or invalidate in any way any funded indebtedness of the Township of Middle
by which it has been created, nor impair the provisions of law regulating
the payment into sinking funds of revenues derived from municipal property,
or dedicating the revenues derived from any municipal property to a specific
purpose.
F.
The creation of the Community Development Corporation
by the Township of Middle shall not be deemed to limit in any manner the Middle
Township's right to deal with its vacant lands, or to sell or lease the
same, independently of such Corporation, as heretofore, but the powers conferred
upon the Township and Commission by this chapter shall be in addition to any
rights or powers now possessed by the Township of Middle with reference to
its vacant lands or other properties.
G.
Notice of any contract for the sale, lease, option to
purchase or other transfer of real property or any interest therein proposed
by the commission shall be submitted to the Mayor of the Township of Middle,
whereupon such proposed commission action shall be subject to the mayor's
veto. The Mayor shall exercise the veto power over this proposed action by
a written veto to the commission. The Mayor shall have 10 days, Saturdays,
Sundays and holidays excepted, after receiving notice of the action to exercise
the veto power. The Mayor's veto power shall be exercised in accordance
with the following guidelines: the action conforms to the Master Plan of the
community; the action is environmentally compatible with the community; The
action complies with the zoning of the industrial area; and the project complies
with the policies and procedures established by the governing body in cooperation
with the commission. If the mayoral veto is exercised during the specified
time period, the action of the commission shall be considered null and void.
If no veto is exercised during the specified time period, the action of the
commission shall be considered valid. The Mayor, upon receiving notice of
the action, may in writing notify the commission of the approval of the action
before the expiration of the ten-day period.
H.
The commission may, as to any real property sold or leased
by it, impose restrictions or conditions as to the use of the real property
or the buildings or structures and the time of their commencement and completion.
All restrictions and conditions shall be related to a lawful purpose and shall
not be inconsistent with or impose a special or higher standard than any zoning
or planning ordinance then in effect in the municipality or under the State
Uniform Construction Code Act, P.L.1975, c.217 (N.J.S.A. 52:27D-119 et seq.).[1]
I.
The governing body of the Township may appropriate annually,
during the life of its Corporation, such sums as may be reasonably necessary
to conduct the normal operations of the Corporation, but no moneys so appropriated
shall be used by the Corporation for the construction of any building or to
finance such construction. The Corporation shall annually present to the Chief
Financial Officer of the Township its budget for operations for the ensuing
year, reflecting therein all unexpended balances on hand from previous appropriations
received from the Township, at the same time and in the same manner and form
as is required by several departments of the Township's government, and
the budget so submitted shall be acted upon as in the case of the budgets
of such several municipal departments, and being so acted upon, shall be made
a part of the Township's budget. The Corporation shall keep complete
and accurate records of its accounts, and separate accounts shall be kept
for its normal functions. The Corporation shall not exceed its budget, and
moneys received from the Township shall be expended only for the purposes
for which they have been appropriated.
The Community Development Corporation shall make a study of the tax
structure reducing the tax burden on the Township of Middle.
