There is hereby established a reserve in the General Capital Fund, which shall be known and designated as the "Municipal Open Space, Recreation and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund." A special bank account shall be opened and maintained for this purpose. Funds from the Municipal Open Space, Recreation and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust may be utilized to acquire by gift, purchase or by eminent domain proceedings, easements, vacant land, as well as land which has improvements thereon at the time of acquisition, where the principal purpose of the acquisition is for any and all of the following purposes or any combination thereof:
A. 
Acquisition of lands for recreation and conservation purposes;
B. 
Development of lands acquired for recreation and conservation purposes;
C. 
Maintenance of lands acquired for recreation and conservation purposes;
D. 
Acquisition of farmland for farmland preservation purposes;
E. 
Historic preservation of historic properties, structures, facilities, sites, areas or objects and the acquisition of such properties, structures, facilities, sites, areas or objects for historic preservation purposes; or
F. 
Payment of debt service on indebtedness issued or incurred by the Township for any of the purposes set forth in Subsections A through E above.
A special tax rate shall be added to the total Township tax rate in the amount of $0.02 per $100 of the assessed valuation of all real property within the Township. The fund shall also be permitted to deposit donations, testamentary bequests and funds from any source as the Township may, from time to time, deem appropriate. The Open Space, Recreation and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund created by this article shall be administered in accordance with applicable statutory provisions, including, without limitation, N.J.S.A. 40:12-15.1 et seq.
No real property or interest therein acquired with funds from the trust fund shall be sold, conveyed, leased or otherwise alienated unless it is needed for another public purpose or otherwise furthers the purposes of the trust. If such a sale, lease or conveyance is made, the Township shall place the monies received into the trust fund.
There is hereby established an Open Space Committee which shall consist of nine members whose terms and powers are hereinafter set forth.
A. 
The Open Space Committee shall be comprised of the following persons:
(1) 
Mayor;
(2) 
Two members of the Township Council appointed by the Council;
(3) 
Six residents of the Township, one from each ward, to be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council;
(4) 
The Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Township Planner shall serve as ex officio members of the Committee and shall have no vote on the committee;
(5) 
There shall be 2 at-large alternate members appointed by the Mayor. The alternate members appointed shall be specifically designated, at the time of appointment, as "Alternate No. 1" and "Alternate No. 2."
(a) 
Alternate members may participate in the discussions of the Committee but may not vote, except in the absence or disqualification of a regular member of the Open Space Committee. A vote shall not be delayed so that a regular member may vote instead of an alternate member. In the event that a choice must be made as to which Alternate member is to vote, Alternate No. 1 shall vote.
B. 
The residents appointed by the Mayor shall hold no other Municipal office, position or employment in the Township.
A. 
The Mayor and the 2 members of the Township Council appointed to the Open Space Committee shall have terms that will correspond with the term of their respective elective offices.
B. 
Three of the residents appointed by the Mayor, and so designated by the Mayor at the time of appointment, shall have a term of 3 years.
C. 
Three of the residents appointed by the Mayor, and so designated by the Mayor at the time of appointment, shall have a term of 2 years.
D. 
The terms of the members of the Open Space Committee appointed by the Mayor, pursuant to Subsections B and C, after their initial terms, shall be 3 years.
E. 
The term of the alternate member designated at the time of appointment as Alternate No. 1 shall have a term of 3 years. The term of the alternate member designated at the time of appointment as Alternate No. 2 shall have a term of 2 years. The terms of Alternate No. 1 and Alternate No. 2 at the expiration of their initial terms shall be 3 years.
A. 
The Open Space Committee shall make an initial determination of which parcels of land should be acquired in fee and/or those parcels of land from which the Township should acquire development rights only.
B. 
The Open Space Committee shall submit to the Township Council a prioritized list of properties to be acquired and/or properties from which development rights should be acquired. The Township Council shall, within 45 days, either approve, disapprove or modify the list as submitted and state the amount of funds that the Council shall make available for such acquisition. If the Township Council shall fail to act affirmatively by either approving, disapproving or modifying the list submitted by the Open Space Committee within 45 days after submission, the list shall be deemed approved as submitted by the Committee in its entirety with full financial authorization.
C. 
After approval of the list referred to in Subsections A and B above, the Township may proceed to acquire, by gift, purchase or by eminent domain proceedings, the parcels as prioritized on the list, within the financial constraints established by the Township Council.
D. 
The Open Space Committee shall hold public meetings, which public meetings shall be held in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, and the Committee shall give appropriate notification of said meetings.
E. 
The Mayor shall serve as Chairman of the Open Space Committee, and the Open Space Committee shall select from among the six citizen members a Vice Chairman to serve as a presiding officer in the absence of the Chairman. The Committee shall select a Secretary whose function shall be to maintain minutes of the Committee's meeting and record of the proceedings of the Committee.