[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Mount
Laurel 3-3-1958 by Ord. No. 58-3; amended
in its entirety 6-3-1996 by Ord. No. 1996-3.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
There is hereby established a special committee to be known and designated
as the "Economic Development Advisory Committee of the Township of Mount Laurel,"
the members of which shall be appointed by the Township Council.
A.
The Economic Development Committee shall consist of seven
members one of whom shall be a member of the Township Council and one of whom
shall be a member of the Township Planning Board. The Township Council and
the Planning Board shall each respectively appoint one of its members to the
Economic Development Committee. The Planning Board member shall not be a member
of the Township Council.
B.
The remaining members shall be residents of the Township
of Mount Laurel and shall be selected on the basis of their qualifications
and fitness for service on the Economic Development Committee.
C.
No member of the Economic Development Committee shall
be interested, either directly or indirectly, in any contacts for work or
materials used by the Committee or in any sales, leases, exchanges or agreements
in connection with any lands, buildings or other real property which could
be discussed or affected by the Committee. Any member of the Committee who
discovers that he/she either has or may have such interest shall disclose
the same immediately, in writing, to the Township Council.
D.
No member of the Committee shall receive any fee or compensation
of any kind from any person for any decision or activity of that member with
the Committee. No member of the Committee may pay any fee to any broker, architect,
engineer, merchant or other person doing business or in any way interacting
with the Economic Development Committee except in the event that such professional
services are required by the Committee in order to do its work. In such event,
the Committee may request the Township Council to retain such professional
services for the Committee.
E.
The Township Council and the Township Planning Board
members shall each be appointed for a period of one year. Their replacements
shall be named on an annual basis by the Township Council and the Township
Planning Board, respectively. The remaining five members shall be appointed
by the Township Council and, at the time of his or her appointment, shall
be established in either a one-year or two-year term. At the expiration of
the terms, an appointee shall be appointed for a two-year term. The term of
any member of the Township Council or any member of the Planning Board who
has been appointed to the Committee shall be automatically deemed vacant in
the event such member is no longer a member of the Township Council or the
Township Planning Board. Members shall serve for their term and until their
successors are appointed. The initial one-year terms shall be served until
January 1, 1997, and the initial two-year terms shall be served until January
1, 1998. All new terms are to be appointed effective January 1 of the year
in which those terms begin.
F.
The Township Council shall designate, at the time of
the original appointment of the Committee, the member of the Committee who
shall serve as temporary Chairman until the Committee organizes and is able
to select its own Chairman for the first year of the Committee's functions.
Thereafter, the Committee shall, year to year, select a Chairman and any other
officer that the Committee deems appropriate.
G.
The members of the Committee shall serve without compensation.
H.
The Mayor of the Township shall be an ex officio member
of the Committee.
The duties of the Economic Development Advisory Committee shall be as
follows:
A.
To work with the Township Planner, Township Engineer
and/or Township Manager in order to develop an understanding of the vacant
commercial, industrial and business property in the Township of Mount Laurel.
There shall not be included in such inventory any vacant land which is zoned
residential or any vacant land which is zoned for any purposes other than
commercial, industrial or business. It is the intention of the Township Council
in this section to articulate clearly that it is not the duty of the Economic
Development Advisory Committee to locate lands upon which additional commercial,
industrial, business or residential development can be sited.
B.
To recommend to the Township Council and the Planning
Board reasonable and desirable restrictions concerning sites for business,
commercial and industrial in order to safeguard property values of established
residential areas in the township.
C.
To promote the advantages of the Township of Mount Laurel
for business, commercial and industrial users.
D.
To encourage expansion of existing industry and business
to the best interest to the Township of Mount Laurel.
E.
To specifically inquire of experts in the field of commercial
office space how to make Mount Laurel more attractive to businesses which
could occupy already existing office spaces in the Township of Mount Laurel.
F.
To prepare, develop and distribute material and data
advertising the advantages of the Township of Mount Laurel to new business
and industry.
G.
To do nothing which would encourage a diminishing of
Mount Laurel Township's greenspace.
The Committee shall receive from all officials and all authorized boards,
departments and offices of the Township of Mount Laurel such assistance as
may be required by the Committee in the performance of the duties of the Committee,
and the Committee shall also be given access to all municipal records and
information which may assist the Committee in the performance of its duties.
There shall be appropriated in each annual budget of the Township of
Mount Laurel such sum as may be determined by the Township Council to be necessary
for the purpose of advertising the advantages of this municipality, and the
Committee herein established is authorized to use and expend said funds for
such purposes upon the adoption of the annual budget.[2]
[1]
Editor's Note: Section 5 of Ord. No. 1996-3 provided that § 18-5, which authorized the Township Council to establish in its annual budget a sum which would be determined by the Council to be necessary for the purpose of advertising the advantages of the Township of Mount Laurel, is ratified and incorporated by reference. Nevertheless, any determination by the Township Council to advertise in a manner consistent with any recommendations of the Economic Development Advisory Committee shall only be done after the matter is fully discussed by the Township Council. Any expenditure of funds shall be exclusively under the control of the Township Council. Any portions of § 18-5 which are inconsistent with this amended § 18-5 are hereby repealed.
[2]
Editor's Note: Section 6 of Ord. No. 1996-3 provided that the
Economic Development Advisory Committee is directed to keep minutes of its
meeting and to cause those minutes to be maintained in the office of the Township
Clerk. The office of the Township Clerk shall be responsible for maintaining
the minute book of the Economic Development Advisory Committee. The members
of the Economic Development Advisory Committee shall make arrangements for
the taking of minutes by a member of the Committee.
