Ordinance amends emergency management procedures in the Township of Ocean.

ORDINANCE NO. 2026-03
 
AN ORDINANCE OF THE Township of OCEAN, COUNTY of ocean, STATE OF NEW JERSEY AMENDING AND SUPPLeMENTING CHAPTER 31 ENTITLED “eMERGENCY mANAGEMENT”
 
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Mayor and Township Committee of the Township of Ocean, County of Ocean and State of New Jersey (the “Township”), that Chapter 31 of the Township Code entitled “Emergency Management” be amended and supplemented to read as follows:
 
SECTION 1:
 
Article I. Civil Defense. Unchanged.
 
Article II. Emergency Management
 
§ 31-1Unchanged.
 
§ 31-2Unchanged.
 
§ 31-3Unchanged.
 
§ 31-4Unchanged.
 
§ 31-5Unchanged.
 
§ 31-6Unchanged.
 
§ 31-7Unchanged.
 
§ 31-8Establishment.
 
There is hereby established by the Township of Ocean a Community Emergency Response Team (“CERT”), which shall have the duties and powers hereinafter set forth. The members shall be appointed by the Township Committee in accordance with the provisions of this Section.
 
§ 31-9 State of Purpose.
 
The mission, organization and purpose of the CERT is to provide volunteer services for natural and other disasters to supplement and assist police, fire and Emergency Management Services response to a disaster. CERT members are volunteers and shall only be activated under the authority of the Office of Emergency Management (“OEM”), as set forth in Chapter 31 of the Township Code.
 
§ 31-10 Membership; Appointment and Terms.
 
Members shall be residents and at least 18 years of age, appointed by the Township Committee, must complete a FEMA CERT training course and may be removed by recommendation of the CERT Chief. The Township may by resolution permit non-residents to participate in the Township CERT team program, provided said authority is adopted by resolution of the Township Committee.
 
§ 31-11 Relation to the Township; Responsibilities.
 
The CERT works with the Township Committee, Police Department, Fire/EMS Department, OEM, and other agencies to provide community emergency support.
 
§ 31-12 Funding.
 
The Township Committee may appropriate funds for CERT; however, the team or its members may not bind the Township financially.
 
SECTION 2: All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
 
SECTION 3: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase of portion of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision, and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof.
 
SECTION 4: This ordinance shall take effect after second reading and publication as required by law.
 
NOTICE
 
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the foregoing ordinance was introduced and passed by the Township Committee on first reading at a meeting of the Township Committee of the Township of Ocean on the 27TH day of January, 2026, and will be considered for second and final passage at a meeting of the Township Committee to be held on the 17th day of February, 2026, at 6:00 PM. at the Municipal Building located at 50 Railroad Avenue, Waretown, New Jersey, at which time and place any persons desiring to be heard upon the same will be given the opportunity to be so heard.
                                                                          _______________________________
                                                                          DIANE B. AMBROSIO, RMC, Clerk
                                                                          Township of Ocean
($98.56)