[[1]HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Mendham 12-21-1998 by Ord. No. 24-98. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor’s Note: Ord. No. 10-18, adopted 12-20-2018, changed all references of "Open Space, Recreation, and Farmland and Historic Preservation Committee" and "Open Space, Recreation, and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund" to “Open Space Committee” and "Open Space Trust Fund."
[Amended 12-4-2006 by Ord. No. 16-06; 12-20-2018 by Ord. No. 10-18]
There is hereby established an Open Space Committee which shall consist of seven members plus two alternates appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Borough Council and pursuant to § 15-2A. The members' terms and powers are hereinafter set forth.
A. 
All of the members of the Open Space Committee shall be residents of the borough and shall serve without compensation. One member shall be a member of the Borough Council, whose term on the Committee shall end on December 31 of the year in which such member is appointed. The membership may include, but shall not be limited to, a representative from each of the Planning Board, Environmental Commission, and Recreation Committee, as well as other citizens of the borough. The terms of the members other than the member of the Borough Council shall be three years, provided that, of the members initially appointed pursuant to this section, two shall be appointed to hold office until December 31, 1999, three shall be appointed to hold office until December 31, 2000, and three shall be appointed to hold office until December 31, 2001. A vacancy shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term only.
B. 
The initial term of the first alternate member shall be for three years, and the initial term of the second alternate member shall be for two years, and thereafter, the term of an alternate member shall be three years.
[Added 12-4-2006 by Ord. No. 16-06]
A. 
The Open Space Committee shall, from time to time, submit written recommendations to the Borough Council as to:
(1) 
Which parcels of land should be acquired for recreation and conservation purposes and whether such parcels should be acquired in fee or only by acquisition of development rights;
(2) 
Which of the lands acquired for those purposes should be developed and/or maintained;
(3) 
Which farmland should be acquired for farmland preservation purposes and whether such farmland should be acquired in fee or only by acquisition of development rights; and
(4) 
Which historic properties, structures, facilities, sites, areas, or objects should be acquired for historic preservation purposes.
B. 
The Open Space Committee shall submit to the Borough Council a prioritized list of properties:
(1) 
Which it recommends that the borough acquire;
(2) 
From which it recommends that development rights should be acquired;
(3) 
Which the borough has acquired and which the Committee recommends be developed and/or maintained for recreation and conservation purposes; and/or
(4) 
That are historic properties, structures, facilities, sites, areas or objects that the Committee recommends be preserved or acquired for historic preservation purposes.
C. 
After selection of the properties to be acquired, developed, maintained or preserved referred to in Subsections A and B above, the borough may proceed to acquire by gift, purchase or by eminent domain proceedings, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 20:3-1 et seq., or to develop, maintain or preserve, the identified parcels within the financial constraints established by the Borough Council.
The Open Space Committee shall hold public meetings, which public meetings shall be held in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act,[1] and the Committee shall give appropriate notification of said meetings.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.
The Open Space Committee shall select from among its members a Chairman and a Vice Chairman to serve as the presiding officer in the absence of the Chairman. The Committee shall also select a Secretary whose function shall be to maintain minutes of the Committee's meetings and records of the proceedings of the Committee.
The Open Space Committee shall hold its initial organization meeting shortly after this chapter takes effect.
[Amended 4-12-2023 by Ord. No. 02-2023]
A. 
There is hereby established the "Open Space Trust Fund" (hereinafter the "Trust Fund"). A separate bank account shall be opened and maintained for this purpose. Funds from the Trust Fund may, as directed by the Borough Council, be utilized to acquire vacant land, as well as land which has improvements upon it at the time of acquisition where the purpose of the acquisition is for recreation and conservation purposes, for farmland preservation or for historic preservation purposes. In the event that the Borough Council shall find it appropriate to apportion the cost of acquisition between land and improvements, it may do so and charge the Trust Fund for the approximate value that it deems appropriate relative to land and the Borough's capital account for the value that it determines shall be attributed to improvements. The Trust Fund may also, as directed by the Borough Council, be used for the development and/or maintenance of lands acquired for recreation or conservation purposes, for the historic preservation or acquisition of historic properties, structures, facilities, sites, areas or objects and/or for the payment of debt service on indebtedness issued or incurred by the Borough for any of the above purposes except for the maintenance of lands acquired for recreation and conservation purposes.
B. 
The Trust Fund shall be funded through the dedication to the fund of an amount not to exceed $0.02 per $100 of assessed valuation of each annual tax levy. The Trust Fund shall also be permitted to accept donations and testamentary bequests. The funds accumulated within the Trust Fund may be utilized for the acquisition of land or development rights in land or as a down payment for the issuance of bonds for the same purpose or for any other purpose established herein at the discretion of the Borough Council. Any and all interest accruing shall remain in the Trust Fund and may be utilized for the above-described purposes.
No property acquired with funds from the Trust Fund shall be leased or sold until the sale or lease of the same has been authorized by binding public referendum and by an ordinance adopted by the Borough Council and provided that the Borough Council shall replace any land conveyed under this section with land of at least equal fair market value and of reasonably equivalent usefulness, size, quality and location to the land conveyed. Any monies derived from the conveyance shall be deposited into the Trust Fund and used for the purposes authorized by this section. Any such conveyance shall be made in the manner prescribed by law.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 35-9, Reconsideration, which immediately followed this section, was repealed 9-29-2020 by Ord. No. 10-2020.