ASSEMBLY, No. 2299

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED SEPTEMBER 16, 1996

By Assemblyman BUCCO, Assemblywoman MURPHY, Assemblymen DeCroce and Carroll

An Act concerning the lease of park lands and concessions by county park commissions and amending P.L.1946, c.276.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. Section 13 of P.L.1946, c.276 (C.40:37-95.13) is amended to read as follows:

    13. The commission may:

    a. Acquire, maintain and make available to the inhabitants of the county, public parks, playgrounds and recreation places;

    b. Locate such public parks, playgrounds and recreation places at such point or points within the limits of the county as it may determine;

    c. Preserve, care for, lay out, construct, maintain, and improve any such parks and places and by itself, or jointly with the State Highway Commission, board of chosen freeholders, or any municipality or other public body, provide for the construction, improvement or maintenance of any roadway or boulevard, within such park or parks or other places;

    d. Lay out, construct and maintain such sidewalks, roadways, service ways, bridle paths, footpaths, or other ways within any such park or parks or other places;

    e. Construct, reconstruct, alter, provide, renew and maintain such buildings or other structures, playgrounds and the equipment thereof, as it may determine;

    f. Enter into contracts with any person, or municipality or other public body, with respect to the laying out, construction or maintenance thereof;

    g. Engage, or contract for, the services of competent engineers or engineering firms, and do all other acts and things as may in the judgment of the commission be necessary or proper to effectuate and carry out the plan and purposes of this act, but such contract and employment shall not be for a longer period of time than 5 years; provided, however, that this provision shall not preclude the commission from extending any such contract and employment for a period of not exceeding 5 years from the date of such extension;

    h. Whether or not a regularly organized full-time county park police department has been or shall hereafter be established pursuant to law, appoint and commission as many special policemen to patrol such county parks, playgrounds and recreation places as it may deem necessary and any such special policeman shall have the same powers therein as may be exercised by a municipal policeman pursuant to law and such special policeman shall be charged with the duty of preserving order and shall have power to arrest and to hold any offender against the public peace in such county parks, playgrounds and recreation places;

    i. Subject to the approval of the board of chosen freeholders, lease to the highest bidder, after published advertisement not less than 10 days prior to award of lease, park lands or concessions therein to produce revenues from facilities required for or incidental to the operation of such public parks, playgrounds or recreation places; provided, however, that the period of any such lease shall not exceed [5] 10 years.

(cf: P.L.1971, c.406, s.3)

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill would allow a county park commission to lease park lands or concessions therein for a period not to exceed 10 years. Current law limits such leases to a period not to exceed five years.

Allows county park commission to lease park land and concessions for 10 year term.