Sponsored by:
Senator CHRISTOPHER J. CONNORS
District 9 (Atlantic, Burlington and Ocean)
Senator ANTHONY R. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes municipal dredging of lagoon community waterways and levying of special assessment or issuing of bonds to finance such dredging.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning municipal assessments for dredging of certain community waterways and supplementing Title 12 and chapter 56 of Title 40 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. A municipality in which a lagoon community is located may contract with a person properly certified, licensed or otherwise authorized to dredge waterways or properly dispose of dredged material to dredge the waterways servicing the lagoon community, whether manmade or naturally occurring, for the purpose of maintaining transportation by boat into, out of, and throughout the lagoon community. The dredging may be restorative or maintenance dredging, or both. For the purposes of this section, "lagoon community" means any residential development in a coastal municipality where the waterways function as streets and provide access to, from and throughout the development via boat.
2. Any municipality that contracts with a person properly certified, licensed or otherwise authorized to dredge waterways or properly dispose of dredged material to dredge the waterways servicing a lagoon community may finance the dredging or disposal by levying a special assessment on the property owners in the municipality that the municipality determines benefit from the dredging, or by issuing bonds for the capital improvement that the dredging represents, as otherwise provided in chapter 56 of Title 40 of the Revised Statutes. For the purposes of this section, "lagoon community" means any residential development in a coastal municipality where the waterways function as streets and provide access to, from and throughout the development via boat.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill authorizes a municipality in which a lagoon community is located to have waterways servicing the lagoon community dredged, and the dredged material properly disposed of, for the purpose of maintaining transportation by boat into, out of, and throughout the lagoon community. The bill further authorizes the municipality to finance the dredging and disposal through the levy of a special assessment on any property owners that the municipality determines to benefit from the dredging, or by issuing bonds for the dredging as a capital improvement. "Lagoon community" is defined in the bill as any residential development in a coastal municipality where the waterways function as streets and provide access to, from and throughout the development via boat.