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Township of Franklin, NJ
Gloucester County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (0) Index Notes (4)
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Franklin 12-18-1967 as Ch. 32 of the 1967 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:55B-3 et seq. (L. 1936, c. 154) an Industrial Commission to be known as the "Industrial Commission of the Township of Franklin" be and the same is hereby created.
Such Commission shall be a body corporate and shall consist of seven members to be appointed by the Mayor.
A. 
The qualifications of the members of such Commission shall be prescribed by statute (N.J.S.A. 40:55B-5).
B. 
One member shall be appointed for one year, one member for two years, one member 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.
C. 
Vacancies in the membership of the Commission, occurring for whatever cause, shall be filled by appointment by the Mayor for the unexpired term thereof.
D. 
No member, officer or employee of the Commission shall be interested directly or indirectly in any contracts for work or materials used by the Commission, or in any sale, 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 Commission or in any other transaction of or with the Commission, or the benefits or profits thereof.
E. 
Each member and officer of the Commission shall, before assuming office, take and subscribe an oath that he will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of his office.
F. 
The members of the Commission shall serve without compensation.
G. 
The members of the Commission shall choose annually from among its members a Chairman or President, and such other officers as it may deem necessary. The Mayor shall be ex officio a member thereof.
H. 
A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum of the Board.
A. 
The Municipal Attorney shall be counsel to the Commission. The Municipal Engineer shall be the engineer of the Commission.
B. 
To the extent that the Commission shall deem it necessary to carry on its function, and to the extent that it shall consider the services of existing employees of the municipality insufficient for its purpose, it may employ such additional employees or services and at such compensation as may be approved by resolution of the governing body of the municipality. Its requirements in this direction shall be submitted from time to time in writing to such governing body.
To effectuate its purposes, the Industrial Commission shall have the following general powers:
A. 
To sue and be sued.
B. 
To adopt and use an official seal.
C. 
To adopt suitable bylaws for the management of its affairs.
D. 
To determine the qualifications and duties of its employees, and to fix, subject to the foregoing provisions and the provisions of statute, their compensation.
E. 
To enter into contracts.
The Industrial Commission shall constitute the corporated instrumentality of the municipality for the following purposes:
A. 
To inquire into, survey and publicize the extent, advantages and utility of the vacant lands of the municipality, whether municipally owned or otherwise.
B. 
To classify such vacant lands according to their adaptability for the settlement thereon of various types of industrial enterprises.
C. 
To study and analyze the various industries of the nation and, to the extent it deems necessary for its purpose, the industries of other nations with a view to ascertaining the opportunities for the industrial expansion of the municipality. In this connection the reports, records, statistics, compenda and similar bodies interested in the compilation of the information relating to industry shall be resorted to wherever possible, in order to avoid unnecessary original research and gathering of source material.
D. 
To advertise the industrial advantages and opportunities of its municipality and the availability of real estate within the municipality for industrial settlement and to encourage and accomplish such industrial settlement within the municipality.
E. 
To solicit the several industries to purchase or lease the vacant land and property of or in the municipality.
F. 
To accomplish the sale or lease of the municipality's vacant lands to industries whose settlement thereon is best calculated, in the judgment of the Commission, to advance the interest of the municipality and of its citizens and inhabitants.
G. 
To acquire title to vacant land owned by the municipality, for the purpose of resale or lease to industries whose presence within the municipality will benefit, in the judgment of the Commission, its citizens and inhabitants.
The Industrial Commission shall make a study of the tax structure with a view to reducing the tax burden of the municipality.
A. 
The Commission hereby created shall not have any power of condemnation or eminent domain.
B. 
The Commission hereby created shall not have power to pledge the credit of the Township of Franklin or 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 Commission shall have power and authority to make an economic survey, analyzing the present and potential possibilities of the township, with a view to ascertaining its industrial 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 Commission shall study the needs of existing local industries so that means 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 within the township with a view to diversifying local industry and stabilizing employment conditions. The Commission may make any investigation deemed necessary to enable it effectually to carry out the provisions of this chapter and for that purpose the Commission 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 Commission shall make an annual report to the Township of Franklin, 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 Commission, hereby created, shall impair or invalidate in any way any funded indebtedness of the Township of Franklin, nor impair the provisions of law regulating the payment into sinking funds or revenues derived from township property, or dedicating the revenues derived from any township property to a specified purpose.
F. 
The creation of the Commission shall not be deemed to limit in any manner the township's right to deal with its vacant lands; or to sell or lease the same, independently of said Commission, as heretofore, but the powers now possessed by the township with reference to its vacant land or other properties, which additional rights were conferred upon the township by the above-recited laws of the State of New Jersey upon the adoption of this chapter creating the Commission.
G. 
No moneys appropriated by the Township Committee in its annual budget shall be used by the Commission for the construction of any building or to finance such construction. The Commission 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 township's budget. The Commission shall keep complete and accurate records of its accounts and separate accounts shall be kept for its normal functions. The Commission shall not exceed its budget, and moneys received from the Township of Franklin shall be expended only for the purpose for which they have been appropriated.