[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Readington 10-5-1998
by Ord. No. 25-98. 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
Trust Fund." A special bank account shall be opened and maintained for this
purpose. Funds from the Municipal Open Space Trust Fund may, as directed by
the Mayor and Township Committee, be utilized to acquire by gift, purchase
or by eminent domain proceedings pursuant to N.J.S.A. 20:3-1 et seq., development
easements or other easements, vacant land, as well as land which has improvements
upon it at the time of acquisition where the principal purpose of the acquisition
is for any or all of the following purposes, or any combination thereof:
B.
Any such land or improvements purchased thereunder shall
be held by the Township of Readington in trust.
The Municipal Open Space Trust Fund shall be funded through the dedication to the Fund of an amount of $0.02 per $100 of assessed valuation of each annual tax levy commencing with the year tax and budget year 1998. The fund shall also be permitted to accept donations and testamentary bequests. The accumulated receipts and deposits within the fund may be utilized for the purposes set forth in §§ 39-1 and 39-2 herein. Any and all interest accruing shall be retained in and used for the same purposes as established in accordance with §§ 39-1 and 39-2 herein. All moneys set aside for open space as of the effective date of this chapter shall be deposited into the fund.
A.
No property acquired with these funds shall be leased
or sold unless action has been authorized by the Mayor and Township Committee
in a manner as prescribed by law.
B.
The Mayor and Township Committee, after at least one
public hearing thereon and upon a finding that the purposes of this chapter
might otherwise be better served or that any land acquired by the Township
of Readington pursuant to this chapter is required for another public use,
may by ordinance convey, through sale, exchange, transfer or other disposition,
title to, or a lesser interest in, that land, provided that the Township of
Readington shall replace any land conveyed under this section by land of at
least equal fair market value and of reasonably equivalent usefulness, size,
quality and location to the land conveyed. Any money derived from the conveyance
shall be deposited into the fund created thereunder.
C.
Any conveyance made pursuant to this section shall be
made in strict accordance with the Local Lands and Buildings Law (N.J.S.A.
40A: 12-1 et seq.). In the event of conveyance by exchange, the land or improvements
thereon to be transferred to the trust shall be at least equal in fair market
value and of reasonably equivalent usefulness, size, quality and location
to the land or improvements transferred from the trust.