Township of Byram, NJ Open Space, Recreation, Farmland Preservation and Historic Preservation Committee

With the exception of the Township Manager, all members shall have a term of office of three years with rotating expiration dates so that two members shall be appointed or reappointed each year. An appointment to fill a vacancy shall be for the unexpired term. To establish the rotation the current terms shall have the following termination dates:

The term of the Planning Board representative (§ 42-2B) and Council (§ 42-2F) representative shall expire on June 30, 2003;

The term of the Recreation Commission representative (§ 42-2D) and the citizen representative appointed under § 42-2G shall expire on June 30, 2004; and

The term of the Environmental Commission representative (§ 42-2C) and the citizen representative appointed under § 42-2E shall expire on June 30, 2005.

§ 42-4 Power and functions of Open Space Committee.

[Amended 8-4-2008 by Ord. No. 17-2008]

The Committee shall select from among the members a Chairman, and a Vice Chairman to serve as the presiding officer in the absence of the Chairman.

There shall be a Secretary of the Committee who shall be responsible to the Committee and who shall record the minutes of all meetings and records of proceedings of the Committee. The Secretary shall be appointed by the Township Manager for a term of one year.

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.

The Open Space Committee shall prepare an Open Space and Recreation Plan (the "Plan") to be used in conjunction with applications for participation in the Green Trust Planning Incentive funding category and submitted to other sources of funding to fulfill the purposes for which the Open Space Trust Fund was created.

The Open Space Committee shall also make a determination of properties which it recommends that the Township acquire, and/or properties from which it recommends that development rights should be acquired, developed, and/or maintained for recreation, conservation, farmland or historic preservation purposes.

The Open Space Committee shall submit a prioritized list of those properties to the Township Council, which shall review the list and make a determination as to which properties are to be acquired and shall state the amount of funds that the Committee shall make available for such acquisition development, maintenance, and/or preservation.

After selection of the properties referred to in Subsections D and E above, the Township may proceed to acquire by gift, purchase, or by eminent domain proceedings, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 20:3-1 et seq., the identified parcels within the financial constraints established by the Township Council.

§ 42-5 Organization meeting.

The Open Space Committee shall hold its initial organization meeting within 30 days of the effective date of this chapter or appointment of the Committee, whichever occurs last.

§ 42-6 Fund for open space acquisition.

There is hereby established an account to be known and designated as the "Open Space Dedicated Trust Fund" (the "Trust Fund") which shall be maintained in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40A:4-1 and N.J.S.A. 40A:5-1. Funds from the Trust Fund may, as directed by the Township Council, be utilized to acquire or develop vacant land, as well as land which has improvements upon it at the time of acquisition, or to acquire development rights, where the principal purpose of the acquisition is to preserve open space, recreation, farmland preservation and/or historic preservation.

§ 42-7 Funding of the Open Space Dedicated Trust Fund.

The Trust Fund shall be funded through the dedication of an amount not to exceed $0.02 per $100 of assessed valuation of each annual tax levy commencing with the year 2000. The Trust Fund shall also be permitted to accept donations and testamentary bequests.

The funds accumulated within the Trust Fund may be utilized for any of the purposes set forth in N.J.S.A. 40:12-15.7. Any and all interest that accrues shall remain in the Trust Fund and may be utilized for the above-described purposes.

The Township Council shall determine the amount of the tax levy each year by resolution.

The Township Council may, after conducting at least one public hearing, determine how to subdivide the amount of the tax levy among the various purposes set forth in N.J.S.A. 40:12-15.7 and this chapter.

§ 42-8 Sale of property.

Property acquired with funds from the Trust Fund may not be leased or sold, until and unless the sale or lease has been authorized by the Township Council in the manner prescribed by law.

The Mayor and Township Council, after at least one public hearing, and upon a finding that the purposes of this chapter will be better served, or that any land acquired by the Township pursuant to this chapter is required for another public use, may by chapter convey, through sale, exchange, transfer or other disposition, title to or a lesser interest in that land, provided that the Township shall replace any land conveyed under this section with land of at least equal fair market value and reasonably equivalent usefulness, size, quality and location. Any money derived from the conveyance shall be deposited into the Trust Fund.

Any conveyance made pursuant to this chapter shall be made in strict accordance with the "Local Lands and Buildings Law" (N.J.S.A. 40A:12-1 et seq.). In the event of conveyance by exchange, the land or improvements thereon to be transferred to the Trust shall be at least equal in fair market value and of reasonably equivalent usefulness, size, quality and location to the land or improvements transferred from the Trust.

§ 42-9 Review.

In the event that no property is acquired under this chapter for a period of five consecutive years, then the Township Council shall review the activities of the Open Space Committee and issue a report with recommendations and conclusions concerning the Trust Fund.