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
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.
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.
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.
