[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Fairfield as § 2-3 of the 1980 Code. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
There is hereby established an Environmental Commission for
the protection, development and use of natural resources, including
water resources, located within the territorial limits of the Township.
The Commission shall be known as the "Environmental Commission
of the Township of Fairfield."
The Commission shall consist of seven members appointed by the
Mayor. All of the members shall be residents of the Township. One
of the members shall be a member of the Planning and Zoning Board.
All of the members shall serve without compensation.
A.
The full term of office of each Commissioner shall be three years;
provided, however, that the terms of the Commissioners first appointed
pursuant hereto shall be as follows:
B.
Thereafter the successor of each member shall be appointed for the
full term of three years and until the appointment and qualification
of his successor. A vacancy occurring otherwise than by an expiration
of a term shall be filled for the unexpired term only.
The Township Committee may remove any member of the Commission
for cause, on written charges served upon the member and after a hearing
thereon at which the member shall be entitled to be heard in person
or by counsel.
The Environmental Commission shall have the following duties:
A.
To conduct research into the use and possible use of the open land
areas of the Township.
B.
To coordinate the activities of unofficial bodies organized for similar
purposes.
C.
To advertise, prepare, print and distribute books, maps, charts,
plans and pamphlets which in its judgment it deems necessary for its
purposes, within the limits of funds appropriated to the Commission.
D.
To keep an index of all open areas, publicly and privately owned,
including open marshlands, swamps and other wetlands, and to obtain
information on the proper use of such areas.
E.
To recommend to the Planning and Zoning Board plans and programs
for inclusion in the Master Plan of the Township, for the development
and use of such areas.
F.
To do such other acts and things as are reasonably related to and
designed to carry out the purposes and objectives of the Commission,
including, without limitation, the payment of such clerks and other
employees as the Commission may from time to time require, within
the limits of the funds appropriated to the Commission.
G.
To keep records of the meetings and activities of the Commission
and to make an annual report to the Township Committee.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
Subject to the prior approval of the Planning and Zoning Board
and Township Committee, the Environmental Commission may acquire property,
both real and personal, in the name of the Township of Fairfield,
by gift, pledges, grants, bequests, devises or lease, for any of its
purposes and shall administer the same for such purposes subject to
the terms of such conveyance or gift. The interest so acquired may
be the fee or any lesser interest, development right, easement (including
conservation easement), covenant or other contractual right (including
a conveyance on conditions, or with limitations or reversions), as
may be necessary to acquire, maintain, improve, protect, limit the
future use of, or otherwise conserve and properly utilize open spaces
and other land and water areas in the Township.
