N.J. Stat. tit. 40, ch. 54A

N.J. Stat. tit. 40, ch. 54A
in effect

N.J. Stat. § 40:54A-1 Authorization to create seaquarium authority; name

The governing body of any municipality bordering on the Atlantic ocean is hereby authorized to create by ordinance a local authority to plan, construct and maintain on or adjacent to the ocean front of the municipality, a place for the display of freshwater and saltwater fishes and marine and aquatic exhibits for educational, recreational, cultural and scientific purposes to be generally designated and known as a seaquarium. Any such local authority shall be known as "the seaquarium authority of " (insert here the name of the municipality) L.1964, c. 103, s. 1, eff. May 29, 1964.

N.J. Stat. § 40:54A-2 Appointment of members; qualifications; terms; vacancies; conflict of interest; oath; compensation; officers; quorum; bonds

The members of each authority shall be appointed by the mayor or other executive head of the municipality of its creation. Each member shall be, for the last 5 years preceding his appointment, a citizen of the United States and a qualified voter of the State of New Jersey. One member shall be appointed for 1 year, one member for 2 years, one member for 3 years, 2 members for 4 years and 2 members for 5 years. At the expiration of each of the above terms, the new member or members shall be appointed for a term of 5 years. Vacancies in the membership of any authority, occurring for whatever cause, shall be promptly filled by appointment by the mayor or other executive head for the unexpired term thereof. Members shall serve for their respective terms and until their successors are appointed and qualify. Each member shall be chosen with a special view to his qualifications and fitness for service on the authority. No member, officer or employee of any authority shall be interested directly or indirectly in any contracts for work or materials used by the authority, or in any sales, leases or agreements in connection with lands, buildings or other property owned or controlled by it, or in any fees or compensation of any kind paid to any broker, architect, engineer, merchant or other person doing business with the authority or in any other transaction of or with the authority, or the benefits or profits thereof. Each member and officer of the authority shall, before assuming office, take and subscribe an oath that he will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of his office. The members and officers of the authority shall serve without compensation, but each shall receive his actual disbursements for his expenses in performing his duties. The members of the authority shall choose annually from among its members a chairman or president, and such other officers as it may deem necessary. The mayor or other executive head of the municipality served by the authority, shall be ex officio a member thereof. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum of the board. The members and officers may be required to furnish bonds to the authority, to secure the faithful discharge of their duties, in form, amount and with such surety as may from time to time be required by resolution of the governing body of the municipality served by the authority. L.1964, c. 103, s. 2, eff. May 29, 1964.

N.J. Stat. § 40:54A-3 Employees and assistants; compensation; selection; civil service; offices; records

Insofar as may be practicable, the employees and assistants required by the authority shall be recruited from the public officers and employees of the municipality served by the authority. The municipal counsel shall be the counsel to the authority; the municipal engineer shall be the engineer of the authority; and the several departments of the municipal government shall be available to the authority for the purposes of the authority's business. Municipal employees serving the authority shall do so without compensation other than their regular compensation as employees of the municipality. The authority shall, from time to time, make known to the mayor or other executive head of the municipality served by it, its wants in the nature of services by employees of the municipality, and the mayor or other executive head shall designate which of the municipality's employees, if any, shall render such services. To the extent that the authority shall deem it necessary to carry on its function, and to the extent that it shall consider the services of existing employees of the municipality insufficient for its purposes, it may employ such additional employees or services and at such compensation as may be approved by resolution of the governing body of the municipality. Its requirements in this direction shall be submitted from time to time in writing to such governing body. The Civil Service laws, rules and regulations of the State, applicable to the municipality served by the authority, shall govern the appointment of employees of the authority. Such laws, rules and regulations shall not be deemed to prevent the use of services of existing employees, without extra compensation therefor, nor shall the use of such services operate to enlarge the civil service rights or the status of the municipal employee rendering the same. The authority shall have and maintain a suitable office, where its maps, plans, documents, records and accounts shall be kept, subject to public inspection at such times and under such reasonable regulations as the authority shall determine. If practicable, existing office facilities of the municipality served by the authority shall be used without charge by the municipality, and the office and similar equipment of the municipality shall, wherever possible, be used by and be made available for the use of the authority without charge. L.1964, c. 103, s. 3, eff. May 29, 1964.

N.J. Stat. § 40:54A-4 Duty of authority

Every authority created under this act shall have the responsibility and obligation: To plan, construct and maintain in and for the municipality, a seaquarium as provided and designated in section 1 of this act. L.1964, c. 103, s. 4, eff. May 29, 1964.

N.J. Stat. § 40:54A-5 General powers

In addition to any other powers conferred upon an authority by this act, each authority shall have the following powers: a. To adopt and have a common seal and to alter the same at pleasure; b. To sue and be sued; c. To acquire, hold, use and dispose of its facility charges and other revenues and other moneys; d. To acquire, rent, hold, use and dispose of other personal property for the purposes of the authority; e. Subject to the provisions of section 9 of this act, to acquire by purchase, gift, condemnation or otherwise, or lease as lessee, real property and easements or interests therein necessary or useful and convenient for the purposes of the authority, whether subject to mortgages, deeds of trust or other liens or otherwise, and to hold and to use the same, and to dispose of property so acquired no longer necessary for the purposes of the authority; f. Subject to the provisions of section 6 of this act, to lease to any person, all or any part of any seaquarium facility for such consideration and for such period or periods of time and upon such other terms and conditions as it may fix and agree upon; g. To borrow money and issue negotiable bonds or notes or other obligations and provide for and secure the payment of any bonds and the rights of the holders thereof, and to purchase, hold and dispose of any bonds; h. To apply for and to accept gifts or grants of real or personal property, money, material, labor or supplies for the purposes of the authority from any governmental unit or person, and to make and perform agreements and contracts and to do any and all things necessary or useful and convenient in connection with the procuring, acceptance or disposition of such gifts or grants; i. To determine the location, type and character of any seaquarium facility and all other matters in connection with all or any part of any seaquarium facility which it is authorized to own, construct, establish, effectuate or control; j. To make and enforce bylaws or rules and regulations for the management and regulation of its business and affairs and for the use, maintenance and operation of any seaquarium facility, and to amend the same; k. To do and perform any acts and things authorized by this act under, through or by means of its own officers, agents and employees, or by contracts with any governmental unit or person; l. To acquire, purchase, construct, lease, operate, maintain and undertake any project and to fix and collect facility charges for the use thereof; and m. To enter into any and all agreements or contracts, execute any and all instruments, and do and perform any and all acts or things necessary, convenient or desirable for the purposes of the authority or to carry out any power expressly given in this act subject to P.L.1971, c. 198 "Local Public Contracts Law" (C. 40A:11-1 et seq.). Before undertaking and proceeding with any action authorized by this section, the authority shall first secure from the governing body of the municipality a specific authorization for the taking of such action. Any such authorization shall be granted by resolution adopted by the said governing body, and unless and until such a resolution is so adopted the authority shall not take any such action. L.1964, c. 103, s. 5, eff. May 29, 1964. Amended by L.1975, c. 96, s. 9, eff. May 16, 1975.

N.J. Stat. § 40:54A-6 Resolution of governing body; investigation and report by authority

Whenever an authority having first been authorized so to do by resolution adopted by the governing body of the municipality and after investigation and study shall plan to undertake any seaquarium facility or facilities the authority shall make to the governing body of the municipality a detailed report dealing with the proposed seaquarium facility or facilities. Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the authority shall not construct or acquire such seaquarium facility or facilities, or make any lease or other agreement relating to use by any governmental unit or person of all or any part of any seaquarium facility for a term in excess of 2 years, until there has been filed with the authority a copy of a resolution adopted by the governing body of the municipality certified by its clerk, describing such seaquarium facility or facilities in terms sufficient for reasonable identification and consenting to the construction or acquisition thereof by the authority or the making of such lease or other agreement. Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to dispense with the necessity for the authorization by a resolution adopted by the governing body of the municipality before the authority shall undertake any such investigation and study. L.1964, c. 103, s. 6, eff. May 29, 1964.

N.J. Stat. § 40:54A-7 Tolls, rents, fees, etc.

Every authority is hereby authorized to charge and collect tolls, rents, rates, fees or other charges (in this act sometimes referred to as "facility charges" ) in connection with, or for the use of services of, or otherwise relating to any seaquarium facility or other property owned or controlled by the authority. L.1964, c. 103, s. 7, eff. May 29, 1964.

N.J. Stat. § 40:54A-8 Compliance of charges with terms of lease or other agreement; adjustment of rates; basis

The facility charges fixed, charged and collected by an authority with respect to any seaquarium facility shall comply with the terms of any lease or other agreement of the authority with regard to such seaquarium facility, and the facility charges fixed, charged and collected by an authority may be so adjusted that the revenues of the authority will at all times be adequate to pay all expenses of the authority, including the expenses of operation and maintenance of any seaquarium facility or other property owned or controlled by the authority, including insurance, improvements, replacements, reconstruction and any other required payments, and to pay the principal of and interest on any bonds, and to maintain such reserves or sinking funds for any of the foregoing purposes as may be required by the terms of any lease or other agreement of the authority or as may be deemed necessary or convenient and desirable by the authority. L.1964, c. 103, s. 8, eff. May 29, 1964.

N.J. Stat. § 40:54A-9 Acquisition of realty; manner; eminent domain

Every authority is hereby empowered, in its own name but for the municipality, to acquire by purchase, gift, grant or device and to take for public use real property within the municipality, or any interest therein which may be deemed by the authority necessary for its purposes. Such authority is hereby empowered to acquire and take such real property or interests therein, by condemnation, in the manner provided by chapter 1 of Title 20, Eminent Domain, of the Revised Statutes (R.S. 20:1-1 et seq.) and, to that end, may invoke and exercise in the manner or mode of procedure prescribed in said chapter, either in its own name or in the name of the municipality, all of the powers of such municipality to acquire or take property for public use; provided, however, that, notwithstanding the foregoing or any other provision of this act, no authority shall take by condemnation, any real property except upon the prior consent thereto by the municipality which created the authority given by resolution adopted by its governing body; and provided, further, that the power herein conferred upon an authority to acquire by condemnation real property and interests therein shall not be exercised to acquire, for any of the purposes of this act, any real property or interests therein owned, used, or to be used by a public utility, as defined in section 48:2-13 of the Revised Statutes, in furnishing any commodity or service which by law it is authorized to furnish. L.1964, c. 103, s. 9, eff. May 29, 1964.

N.J. Stat. § 40:54A-10 Competition with public utility prohibited

Nothing in this act or any provision hereof shall authorize or be construed to authorize, the construction, installation, acquisition, maintenance, operation, or sale of any property, plant, equipment, facilities, commodity, product or service by any authority which would be competitive with any public utility as the same is defined in section 48:2-13 of the Revised Statutes. L.1964, c. 103, s. 10, eff. May 29, 1964.

N.J. Stat. § 40:54A-11 Annual report of authority; rights and powers of municipality; appropriations; use of funds; budget; record of accounts

Each authority shall make an annual report to the municipality by which it has been created, setting forth in detail its operations and transactions for the preceding 12 months. The creation of an authority by a municipality shall not be deemed to limit in any manner the municipality's right to deal with its lands, or to sell or lease the same, independently of such authority, as heretofore, but the powers conferred upon such municipality and authority by this chapter shall be in addition to any rights or powers now possessed by such municipality with reference to its lands or other properties. The governing body of such municipality creating an authority under this chapter may appropriate annually, during the life of its authority, such sums as may be reasonably necessary to conduct the normal operations of the authority, but no moneys so appropriated shall be used by an authority for the construction of any building or to finance such construction. The authority shall annually present to the chief financial officer of the municipality its budget for operations for the ensuing year, reflecting therein all unexpended balances on hand from previous appropriations received from the municipality, at the same time and in the same manner and form as is required by several departments of the municipality's government, and the budget so submitted shall be acted upon as in the case of the budgets of such several municipal departments, and, being so acted upon, shall be made a part of the municipality's budget. Each authority shall keep complete and accurate records of its accounts, and separate accounts shall be kept for its normal functions. No authority shall exceed its budget, and moneys received from the municipality by which it has been created shall be expended only for the purposes for which they have been appropriated. L.1964, c. 103, s. 11, eff. May 29, 1964.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-activity/statutesFetched: 10/17/2026

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