There shall be an Economic Council Committee that shall oversee the commissions, committees and boards of the Borough of South River related to the economic growth and development of the Borough. The Economic Council Committee shall consist of three members of the Borough Council, one of whom shall be designated Chairman, and who shall be appointed at the annual organizational meeting in accordance with the Rules of Council. Initial appointments to the Economic Council Committee shall be made at the first regular meeting following the effective date of this chapter. The Economic Council Committee shall exercise supervision and control over the Economic Development Commission and Advisory Committee of Housing and Community Development Block Grant Committee and such other agencies, officers or employees of the Borough as may be designated from time to time by the Borough Council.
There is hereby created the South River Economic Development Commission.
The purposes and objectives of the South River Economic Development Commission are as follows:
A. 
To study the future growth of South River in regard to its economic expansion and development.
B. 
To develop and recommend plans for the redevelopment of the Borough's industrial and business districts.
C. 
To advise on and recommend to the business and industrial communities improvements requiring private sector action.
D. 
To advise the Mayor and Council on improvements requiring local government action.
E. 
To coordinate redevelopment in the business and industrial districts and foster a closer working relationship between all interested segments of the Borough of South River community.
F. 
To analyze and plan for the impact of the industrial and business district of development in other areas of the Borough of South River.
G. 
To inquire into and publicize the advantages and utility of the vacant lands of the municipality, whether municipally owned or privately owned.
H. 
To study and analyze the various industries of the world to the extent it deems necessary for its purposes, with a view to ascertain the opportunities for the business and industrial expansion of the municipality.
I. 
To advertise the business and industrial advantages and opportunities of the Borough of South River and the availability of real estate within the municipality for industrial and business purposes and to encourage and accomplish such industrial and business settlement within the municipality.
J. 
To solicit industries and businesses to purchase or lease the vacant lands and properties of or in the municipality.
K. 
To recommend the sale or lease of the municipality's vacant lands to industries and businesses whose settlement thereon is, in the judgment of the Commission, to advance the interests of the municipality and of its citizens and inhabitants.
L. 
To market title to vacant land owned by the municipality for the purpose of resale or lease to industry or business whose presence within the municipality will benefit, in the judgment of the Commission, its citizens and inhabitants.
A. 
The Commission shall consist of seven regular members and four alternates to be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council.
B. 
The Council shall also appoint a Council liaison for the South River Economic Development Commission.
C. 
Regular members and alternates shall serve for terms of four years to commence on January 1 of the year of appointment and until the appointment and qualification of their successors; except that the terms of the first two regular members and one alternate member shall be for one year, the terms of the next two regular members and one alternate member for a term of two years, the terms of the next two regular members and one alternate member shall be three years and the terms of the next one regular member and one alternate member shall be four years, to be designated by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council, such as the terms of office of no more than two regular members and no more than one alternate member shall expire in any one year.
D. 
All regular numbers shall exercise voting power. All alternate members may participate in all discussions, but may not vote; except that alternate members may vote in the absence of or disqualification of a regular member. A vote shall not be delayed in order that a regular member may vote instead of an alternate member. The Mayor shall designate alternates by number at the time of their initial appointment. In the event that a choice must be made as to which alternate member is to vote, lower-numbered alternates shall have preference over higher-numbered alternates.
E. 
If a vacancy shall occur otherwise than by expiration of term, it shall be filled by appointment as above provided for the unexpired term.
F. 
The members of the Commission shall serve without compensation.
G. 
No member of the Commission shall be directly or indirectly involved with any contracts of sale, leases or agreements with connection to the lands, buildings or other properties owned by the Borough of South River.
H. 
A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum for the purposes of conducting a meeting. The members of the Commission shall choose annually from among its members a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and such other officers as it may deem necessary.
The Commission shall meet at least six times a year at such time and place as said Commission shall fix by resolution at the annual reorganization meeting of the Commission. The meeting of the Commission shall be open to the public, unless determined by the Chairman of the Commission and the majority of its members that a closed session is required to discuss any of the following categories:
A. 
Pending/anticipated litigation.
B. 
Contract negotiations.
C. 
Any matter falling within the attorney/client privilege.
D. 
Any other matter as allowed by state statute.
The South River Economic Development Commission shall have the powers necessary to effectuate the purposes herein described, said powers including, but not limited to, the following:
A. 
To adopt bylaws.
B. 
To propose and/or enter into agreements and contracts with persons, firms, corporations or government entities, which agreements and contracts may be necessary or convenient to the exercise of the purposes and objectives of the Commission.
C. 
To coordinate the various public and business activities in the downtown district and to establish an annual calendar of major downtown events and to recommend to the governing body such ordinance changes as may be necessary to carry out the various purposes of the Commission.
D. 
To advise the governing body and the interested private segments of the community regarding policies for the business and industrial districts relative to its development and/or redevelopment.
E. 
To recommend and/or enter into contracts for professional services which may be required to carry out the planning and coordination functions of this Commission.
F. 
To search, find and recommend grants to the Borough of South River.
A. 
No commission created under this chapter shall have any power of condemnation or eminent domain.
B. 
No commission created under this chapter shall have power to pledge the credit of the municipality by which it is created, or of 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 creation of a commission by a municipality shall not be deemed to limit in any manner the municipality's right to deal with its vacant lands or to sell or lease the same, independently of such commission, as heretofore, but the powers conferred upon such municipality and commission by this chapter shall be in addition to any rights or powers now possessed by such municipality with reference to its vacant lands or other properties.
D. 
The governing body of the municipality creating the commission under this chapter may appropriate annually, during the life of this commission, such sums as may be reasonably necessary to conduct the normal operations of the commission, but no money so appropriated shall be used by the commission for the construction of any building or to finance such construction. The South River Economic Development Commission shall annually present to the Chief Financial Officer and Business Administrator of the municipality its budget for operations for the ensuing year, reflecting therein all unexpended balances on hand from previous appropriations received from the municipality at the same time, in the same manner and form as is required by other departments of the municipality's government, and the budget so submitted shall be acted upon as is in the case of the budgets of other municipal departments, and being so acted upon, shall be made a part of the municipality's budget. The South River Economic Development Commission shall keep complete and accurate records of all its accounts, and separate accounts shall be kept for its normal functions. The South River Economic Development Commission shall not exceed its budget, and moneys received from the municipality by which it has been created shall be expended only for the purposes for which they have been appropriated.
E. 
The Commission shall make an annual report to the governing body setting forth in detail its operations and transactions for the preceding 12 months. In addition, the Commission shall regularly circulate to the governing body copies of its meeting minutes. All records, reports and data shall be available to the governing body for inspection at any time.
Subject to limitations as may hereinafter be determined by the governing body, and so far as may be practicable, the employees and professional staff of the Borough of South River shall be available to assist the Commission in the performance of its duties. In all such cases, requests for employee or professional staff assistance must be coordinated through the Business Administrator.
There is created a committee known as the "Mayor's Advisory Committee on Housing and Community Block Grant Programs."
Said Committee shall consist of five members, who shall include a cross section of low-/moderate-income residents, minorities, target area residents, the elderly, and the disabled.
The terms of said five members shall be for periods of one year.
A. 
Said members shall be appointed to the Committee by the Mayor.
B. 
In the event of a vacancy, the Mayor shall appoint an individual who shall serve for the balance of the unexpired term.
In addition to the five members above, the Borough Council shall appoint one of its members to the Committee to serve as Council liaison, and the Mayor shall also serve as an ex officio member.
The Committee shall:
A. 
Review information about the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and the scope of eligible activities;
B. 
Advise the governing body of anticipated funding the Borough may receive under the CDBG Program;
C. 
Solicit comments, ideas and recommendations verbally or in writing;
D. 
Identify proposed municipal projects and generally assist Borough officials in complying with the CDBG Program.
The Committee shall meet no less than three times a year and shall conduct such other meetings as may be necessary in order to comply with Community Development Block Grant Program requirements.