[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Liberty 4-3-1995 by Ord. No. 9-95. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Indemnification of officers and employees — See
Ch. 18.
The Township Committee hereby finds that the Township of Liberty
is in need of additional industrial rateables, and, to that extent,
the recreation of an industrial commission is necessary and desirable
in order to appropriately develop Liberty Township for purposes of
industrial utilization with a view towards minimizing adverse environmental
impact and adverse impact from the standpoint of infrastructure and
the cost thereof.
The Commission hereby created shall be known as the "Industrial
Commission of the Township of Liberty" and shall have an indefinite
duration until such time as this chapter shall be repealed.
The purposes of the Industrial Commission of the Township of
Liberty shall be to perform any and all services and activities as
are authorized by the enabling statute, N.J.S.A. 40:55B-1 et seq.,
and those functions shall include the analysis of the industrial structure
of the township, the cataloging of any and all potential resources
of the township from an industrial standpoint, the study of the basic
economic conditions and criteria which do and will affect the industrial
growth of the township at the present time and in the future, an analysis
of the environmental impact which may be created by implementation
of various industrial uses within the municipality, as well as an
analysis of the infrastructure and its impact on the economic needs
of the municipality. The Industrial Commission shall obtain information
upon which to predicate an estimate of the potential tax revenues
to be generated by industrial development within the township and
shall establish a ratio of cost to revenue in connection with said
development so as to make an informed decision as to the implementation
of industrial utilization within the township.
The Commission shall consist of seven members and shall be a
body corporate having the powers hereinafter enumerated.
The members of the Industrial Commission shall be appointed
by a majority of the governing body of the municipality. The designated
Mayor of the municipality shall designate nominees for such Commission,
and the majority of the Township Committee shall be required to approve
of each nominee.
[Amended 3-4-1996 by L.L. No. 96-4]
Each member who shall be appointed and approved as a Commissioner
to the Industrial Commission shall be, for a period of at least five
years next preceding his or her appointment, a citizen of the United
States of America and a qualified voter of the State of New Jersey.
A.
The members shall be appointed for the following terms:
B.
At the expiration of each of the above terms, a new member or members
shall be appointed for a term of five years. Vacancies in the membership
of the Commission shall be promptly filled by appointment by the governing
body for the unexpired term of the member being replaced. The members
shall serve for their respective terms and until their successors
are appointed and qualified.
A.
No more than four members shall serve on the Commission at any one
time who are of the same political party.
B.
Each member shall be chosen with a special view to his or her own
qualifications and fitness for service on the Commission.
C.
Members shall have had experience in industry or commerce and shall
be conversant with the industrial needs and facilities of the Township
of Liberty.
D.
Members appointed shall be of known devotion to public service.
E.
In the event that a potential member cannot be obtained who is of
known devotion to public service, then the Township Committee, in
appointing any such member to the Commission, shall utilize its best
efforts to determine that said individual is of potentially high caliber
with regard to his or her probable devotion to public service.
There shall be appointed to the Commission, unless local conditions
otherwise militate against or so require, one representative of industry
or commerce, one representative of labor, one representative of the
clearinghouse or banks of the immediately surrounding area, one representative
of the Chamber of Commerce, one representative of a service club or
clubs of the municipality, one representative of the legal profession
and one representative of a recognized real estate dealers association.
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 sales, leases or agreements in connection
with lands, buildings or other property owned or controlled by the
Commission, 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 the benefits or profits thereof.
The members and officers of the Commission shall serve without
compensation, but each shall receive his or her own actual disbursements
for expenses in performing his or her duties as a Commissioner. Each
such Commissioner shall submit appropriate vouchers, attaching thereto
receipts for any and all expenditures.
The Commission shall annually elect, from its members, a Chairman
and such other officers as its discretion may deem necessary.
A majority of the members of the entire Commission shall constitute
a quorum of the Commission; therefore, four members shall be required
to constitute a quorum at any given meeting.
A.
Insofar as may be practicable, the employee and assistants required
by the Commission shall be recruited from the public officers and
employees of the municipality served by the Commission, to serve without
additional compensation.
B.
In the event that no municipal employees can reasonably be required
to serve without additional compensation, the Commission shall be
permitted to employ such additional employees at such compensation
as may be approved by resolution of the governing body or the municipality.
The Commission shall, from time to time, set forth its requirements
in this regard, in writing, to the Municipal Committee.
The Liberty Township Attorney shall act as the attorney to the
Industrial Commission. The attorney's compensation shall be pursuant
to the terms and conditions set forth in the salary or compensation
ordinances which may have been adopted by the Township Committee,
or as further amended.[1]
The Commission shall maintain a suitable office where its maps,
plans, documents, records and accounts shall be kept subject to public
inspection during reasonable business hours of the Commission. If
practicable, existing office facilities of Liberty Township shall
be utilized without charge by the municipality for the Commission's
purposes. The municipality shall make available office and similar
equipment wherever possible to be used by the Commission without charge.
The Industrial Commission shall serve 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 which may be suitable
to location in Liberty Township with view to ascertaining the appropriateness
of said industrial expansion into Liberty Township.
D.
To advertise the industrial advantages and opportunities of the Township
of Liberty and the availability of real estate within the municipality
and to encourage and accomplish industrial settlement within Liberty
Township.
E.
To solicit the various industries, so selected, to purchase or lease
or otherwise utilize the vacant land and properties in Liberty Township.
F.
To facilitate the sale or lease of the municipality's vacant
lands which are not needed for public purposes to industries whose
settlement thereon is best calculated, in the discretion of the Commission,
to advance the interests of Liberty Township and its citizens.
G.
To acquire title to vacant land owned by the municipality for purposes
of resale or lease to industries whose presence within the municipality
will benefit the citizens and inhabitants of the Township of Liberty,
the County of Warren and the State of New Jersey.
A.
Notice of any contract for the sale, lease, option to purchase or
lease or other transfer of real property or any interest therein proposed
by the Commission shall be submitted to the Mayor of Liberty Township,
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.
B.
The Mayor's veto power shall be exercised in accordance with
the following guidelines:
(1)
That the action conforms to the Master Plan of the community.
(2)
That the action is environmentally compatible with the community.
(3)
That the action complies with the zoning of the industrial area.
(4)
That the project complies with the policies and procedures established
by the governing body in cooperation with the Commission.
C.
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.
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 construction, demolition, repair, alteration or reconstruction
of buildings or structures at 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 higher standard than
any zoning or planning ordinance or statute then in effect by or affecting
the municipality.
The Commission shall make a study of the tax structure of the
township with a view towards reducing the tax rate imposed on all
properties in the municipality by the creation of tax rateables in
the industrial sector.
The Commission shall make an annual report to the governing
body of Liberty Township setting forth in detail its operations and
transactions for the preceding 12 months. Such reports shall be made
during the month of January of each year. Said report shall include
therein its receipts and disbursements during that period. A copy
of that report shall be filed in the office of the Municipal Clerk
for public inspection.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to create any authority
to impair or invalidate any funding indebtedness of the Township of
Liberty.
The governing body of the Township of Liberty shall appropriate
annually any sums as may be reasonably necessary to conduct the normal
operations of the Industrial Commission, but no moneys so appropriated
shall be used by the Commission for the construction of any building
or to finance such construction.
