13:17-91 Powers of trust.

5. The Meadowlands Conservation Trust shall have the power to:

a. Sue and be sued in its own name;

b. Adopt a seal and alter it at pleasure;

c. Adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business, and adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) as necessary to implement this act;

d. Maintain an office or offices at such place or places within the State as it may designate;

e. Appoint such officers, who need not be trustees, in addition to a secretary and a treasurer, as the trust shall deem advisable, to establish advisory groups, and to employ such other employees, consultants, and agents, including an executive director, as may be necessary or desirable in its judgment, to fix their compensation, and to promote and discharge such officers, employees, consultants, and agents, all without regard to the provisions of Title 11A, Civil Service, of the New Jersey Statutes;

f. Authorize, if deemed useful, the establishment by appropriate persons or organizations of a nonprofit organization or organizations exempt from taxation pursuant to section 501 (c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C.s.501 (c)(3), for the purposes of assisting the trust in furthering the purposes of the trust as set forth in this act;

g. Cooperate with and assist, insofar as practicable, any governmental entity or any private entity or person in furtherance of the purposes of the trust;

h. Call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of such employees of any governmental entity as it may require and as may be available to it for the purpose of exercising its powers and performing its duties under this act;

i. Incur such traveling and other miscellaneous expenses as it may deem necessary in the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties under this act, and as may be within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for those purposes;

j. Acquire in the name of the trust, hold, and dispose of personal property in the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties under this act;

k. Make, enter into, and perform all contracts and agreements necessary or incidental to the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties under this act. No contract on behalf of the trust shall be entered into for the doing of any work, or for the hiring of equipment or vehicles, if the sum to be expended exceeds the appropriate amount set forth in, or the amount calculated by the Governor pursuant to, section 2 of P.L.1954, c.48 (C.52:34-7), unless the trust first publicly advertises for bids therefor, and awards the contract to the lowest responsible, qualified bidder; but advertising is not required if the contract to be entered into is one for furnishing or performing services of a professional nature, if there is only one source for the product or service being procured, or if the product or service is supplied or rendered by a public utility subject to the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Utilities, and tariffs and schedules of the charges made, charged, or exacted by the public utility for such products to be supplied or services to be rendered are filed with the Board of Public Utilities. The provisions of this subsection shall not prevent the trust from having any work done by its own employees, nor does it apply to repairs, or to the furnishing of materials, supplies or labor, or the hiring of equipment or vehicles, when the safety or protection of its or other public property or the public convenience requires, or the exigency of the circumstances will not admit of such advertisement. In such case the trust shall, by resolution passed by the affirmative vote of a majority of the trustees in attendance, declare the exigency or emergency to exist, and set forth in the resolution the nature thereof and the approximate amount to be expended;

l. Apply for and accept any grant or aid, whether from a governmental entity, a nonprofit organization, a foundation or trust, or any other public or private source, that might be or may become available for programs in furtherance of the purposes of the trust, to subscribe to and comply with any rule or regulation with respect to the application of such grant or aid, and to enter into and perform any contract or agreement with respect to the application of such grant or aid;

m. Solicit and to accept gifts, donations, legacies, bequests, and endowments, including but not limited to land, money, securities, or other property of value from public or private sources, to enable the trust to acquire and hold or convey land for any purpose which falls within those of the trust; and, unless otherwise specified by the person making such a gift, donation, legacy, bequest, or endowment of money or securities, to invest it in whole or in part as provided in section 6 of P.L.1999, c.31 (C.13:17-92);

n. Solicit and accept rents or royalties, if appropriate, and to apply them to furthering the purposes of the trust;

o. Apply all moneys, assets, property, or other things of value it may receive as an incident to its operation to furthering the purposes of the trust;

p. Plan and implement strategies to maximize land acquisition and preservation and environmental enhancement in the Hackensack meadowlands and the Hackensack river watershed in keeping with the purposes of the trust;

q. Acquire and hold, or acquire and convey to other governmental entities, including but not limited to the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust created pursuant to P.L.1968, c.425 (C.13:1B-15.119 et seq.), or to qualified nonprofit organizations, environmentally important, valuable, or sensitive lands located in the Hackensack meadowlands or within the Hackensack river watershed; and to preserve and manage those lands in their natural state or in a largely natural or undeveloped state for the purposes of conserving and enhancing natural resources, including but not limited to wetlands mitigation sites and banks, and protecting elements of natural diversity, providing open space, or providing public outdoor passive recreational opportunities;

r. Establish a special working relationship with the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission established pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1968, c.404 (C.13:17-5) and the Hackensack Meadowlands Municipal Committee established pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1968, c.404 (C.13:17-7) in furthering the purposes of the trust;

s. Establish incentive programs to encourage landowners within the Hackensack meadowlands or the Hackensack river watershed to (1) convey land to the trust or to other public or private entities seeking to preserve land in keeping with the purposes of the trust, or (2) manage their lands in keeping with the purposes of the trust;

t. Establish a volunteer stewardship program, and take all reasonable action necessary for management and maintenance of trust property;

u. Procure insurance against any losses in connection with its property, operations, or assets, in such amounts and from such insurers as it deems desirable;

v. Exercise its powers and perform its duties as required pursuant to sections 9 through 14 of P.L.1999, c.31 (C.39:3-27.100 through C.39:3-27.105) pertaining to the issuance of Meadowlands conservation license plates; and

w. Do all acts and things necessary or convenient to exercising its powers and performing its duties under this act in furthering the purposes of the trust.

L.1999,c.31,s.5.