[Adopted 2-16-2000 by Ord. No. 3-2000]
[Amended 4-4-2007 by Ord. No. 5-2007; 2-20-2008 by Ord. No. 2-2008]
There is hereby established an Open Space Committee which shall consist of nine members whose terms and powers are set forth below.
[Amended 4-4-2007 by Ord. No. 5-2007]
The Open Space Committee shall be comprised of the following persons to be appointed by the Mayor and Borough Council:
A. 
The Mayor of the Borough of Hopatcong.
B. 
One member of the Borough Council.
C. 
Two members from the Borough Land Use Board.
[Amended 9-5-2012 by Ord. No. 22-2012]
D. 
One member of the Borough Environmental Commission.
E. 
One member of the Borough Recreation Commission.
F. 
Three citizens of the Borough holding no other elected, appointed or employment position, one to be appointed by the Mayor and two to be appointed by the Borough Council.
[Amended 2-20-2008 by Ord. No. 2-2008]
[Amended 4-4-2007 by Ord. No. 5-2007; 2-20-2008 by Ord. No. 2-2008]
All members of the Open Space Committee shall have a term of office of two years (or, term of Mayor and Councilperson would coincide with their respective term of office).
[Amended 4-4-2007 by Ord. No. 5-2007]
A. 
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. In the event of a tie vote, the Chairman’s vote shall be counted twice to break the tie. 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.
B. 
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.
C. 
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.
D. 
The Open Space Committee shall also make a determination of properties which it recommends that the Borough acquire and/or properties for which it recommends that development rights should be acquired, developed and/or maintained for open space and/or recreation purposes.
E. 
The Open Space Committee shall submit a prioritized list of those properties to the Borough 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.
F. 
After selection of the properties referred to in Subsections D and E 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., the identified parcels within the financial constraints established by the Borough Council.
The Open Space Committee shall hold its initial organization meeting within 30 days of the effective date of this article or appointment of the Committee, whichever occurs last.
There is hereby established an account to be known and designated as the "Open Space and Recreation Fund" (the "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 fund may, as directed by the Borough 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 and recreation.
A. 
The fund shall be funded through the dedication of an amount not to exceed $0.01 per $100 of assessed valuation of each annual tax levy commencing with the year 2000. The fund shall also be permitted to accept donations and testamentary bequests.
B. 
The funds accumulated within the 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 fund and may be utilized for the above-described purposes.
C. 
The Borough Council shall determine the amount of the tax levy each year by resolution.
D. 
The Borough 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 article.
A. 
Property acquired with funds from the fund may not be leased or sold, until and unless the sale or lease has been authorized by the Borough Council in the manner prescribed by law.
B. 
The Mayor and Borough Council, after at least one public hearing, and upon a finding that the purposes of this article will be better served, or that any land acquired by the Borough pursuant to this article is required for another public use, may by ordinance convey, through sale, exchange, transfer or other disposition, title to or a lesser interest in that land, provided that the Borough 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 fund.
C. 
Any conveyance made pursuant to this section 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 fund.
In the event that no property is acquired under this article for a period of five consecutive years, then the Borough Council shall review the activities of the Open Space Committee and issue a report with recommendations and conclusions concerning the fund.