Township Still Seeks Applicants for Economic Development Commission

The township continues to seek applicants for positions on the

The commission, which has been defunct since 2008, will primarily solicit businesses and assist in Lacey’s economic development, Township Administrator Veronica Laureigh said.

“It will help with what we want to do,” Committeewoman and liaison to the commission Helen DelaCruz said. “It will help promote the standard of living, health, business and safety.”

Seven residents will sit on the commission, each representing a different sector of town—industry or commerce, labor, the clearing house of banks, the Chamber of Commerce, service clubs, legal profession and the real estate dealers association, Laureigh said.

“They’re free resources,” Laureigh said. “It will give us another arm for the committee.”

Applicants should be enthusiastic, DelaCruz said.

The commission will be used for a variety of areas, including bringing businesses into town and improving the waterways, she said.

“Our township is really great but we want our businesses to flourish and others to come in,” she said.

Having a commission will help the township to expand its resources and improve its economy, DelaCruz said.

“If we don’t do anything, nothing will grow,” she said. “It will help us progress.”

Under state statute, members of the commission will have the power to do the following:

• Make an economic survey, analyzing the present and potential possibilities of the municipality.
• Ascertain the municipalities industrial needs, determine its resources for efficient manufacture and explore its probable sphere in the future development of the State and Nation.
• Study existing local industries in the municipality so they may evolve to compete more successfully in the state. Also study industries of the nation for any potential industrial expansion of the municipality.
• Examine vacant lands and classify them according to their adaptability for the settlement of various industrial enterprises.
• Advertise the industrial advantages and opportunities of the municipality and the availability of real estate.
• Solicit several industries to purchase or lease the vacant lands and property within the municipality. Accomplish the sale or lease of vacant lands. Acquire title to vacant land for the purpose of resale or lease.
• Launch an investigation to carry out the provisions of the state statute.
• The commission does not have the power of condemnation or eminent domain or to pledge the credit of the municipality or create any debt against the municipality.
• Present an annual report to the governing body, breaking down its operations and transactions.

Interested residents can submit a Citizen Leadership Form and forward to laceyclerk@comcast.net or by mail at Twp of Lacey, Administrator, 818 Lacey Road, Forked River, NJ 08731.

The Citizen Leadership Form can be found on the township’s website or attached to this story as a PDF.