Chapter 235
2012 -- H 8165
Enacted 06/12/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO LAND
TRUST FOR THE TOWN OF
Introduced
By: Representatives
Date Introduced: May 16, 2012
It is enacted by
the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 2, 5, 7 and 9 of Chapter 75 of the
Public Laws of 1997 entitled
“An Act Relating to Land
Trust for the Town of
follows:
SECTION 1
Name and Purpose
There
is hereby established a Richmond Rural Preservation Land Trust (hereinafter
called
trust) for the purposes of, but not limited to: acquiring
development rights to agricultural property
within the Town of
therein, to preserve open spaces, fresh water wetlands and
ponds, adjoining uplands, wildlife
habitats, groundwater recharge areas, land providing access to
open space land, land for bicycle
and hiking paths and land for future passive public
recreational facilities and use.
SECTION 2
Administration
The
trust shall be administered by Five (5) Seven (7) trustees who
shall be appointed by
the town council of the Town of
designated to serve for terms of one (1), two (2), three (3),
four (4), and five (5) years
respectively, terms to expire on December 31st annually.
Thereafter, trustees shall be appointed
as aforesaid for a term of office of five (5) years,
except that all vacancies occurring during a term
shall be filled for the unexpired term. In addition to the five
(5) seven (7) trustees appointed by
the town council, the current chairperson, or member
designee of the Richmond Planning Board
and the Town Planner shall serve as ex-officio members to
the trust.
Trustees
shall be resident electors of the Town of
compensation and shall hold office until their successors have
been appointed. No trustee may be
an elected officer or salaried employee of the town of
SECTION 3
Organization of Trust
The
members of the trust shall elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson from
amongst its
members. The trustees shall elect or appoint a secretary who
need not be a voting member of the
trust. The term of office of the office of the chairperson,
vice-chairperson and secretary, unless
otherwise prescribed by the Richmond Town Council, shall be for
the calendar year, or for that
portion therefor remaining after
each such officer is designated or elected.
The
Trust shall re-organize annually in January and shall file forthwith a list of
the
officers for the ensuing year with the Town Clerk.
SECTION 4
Rules and Regulations
The
trustees may adopt reasonable rules and regulations governing the conduct of
trust
affairs, including the acquisition and management of its
holdings not inconsistent with the
provisions of this Act. All rules and regulations of the trust
are subject to the approval of the town
council. Decisions of the trustees shall be by majority vote
of those present and voting, and no
business shall be transacted without a quorum of three (3)
members present. The trustees shall
keep accurate records of their meetings and actions and
shall file copies of their minutes with the
Town
Clerk. All meetings of the trust
shall be open to the public and held in accordance with any
SECTION 5
Powers of the Trust
The
trust shall have the power to:
(a)
purchase, receive by gift, or otherwise acquire fee
simple or lesser interests in real
property, including development rights as defined in section
42-12-2 of the General Laws, or any
interest in real property consistent with the purposes of this
Act;
(b)
accept gifts, grants or loans of funds or services
from any source, public or private, and
comply, subject to the provisions of this act, with any
terms and conditions thereof;
(c)
accept from state and/or federal agencies, loans or
grants for use in carrying out the
trust's purposes and enter into agreements with such agencies
respecting any such loans or grants;
(d)
employ counsel, auditors, engineers, appraisers,
private consultants, advisors,
secretaries or other personnel needed to perform its duties;
(e)
administer and manage land and interests in land held
by it in a manner which allows
public use and enjoyment consistent with the natural and scenic
resources thereof, including
conveyance at any such land or interest in land to, and
contracts with, nonprofit organizations,
provided such land shall continue to be used in a manner
consistent with the purposes of this Act
and with the terms of any grant or devise by which such
land was acquired by the trust;
(f)
incur debt, only after authorization in each such
instance by vote of a financial town
meeting of the Town of
obligated to pay debt service on all such debt to the extent
funds are available and to reimburse
the town for any town funds expended to pay such debt
service. Whenever the Town of
be precluded from acquiring any additional property
until the trust shall have repaid the Town of
funds expended to pay such debt service.
(g)
dispose of all or any portion of its real property or
interests therein held by it,
whenever in the opinion of the trustees said lands or
properties have become unsuitable or have
ceased to be used for the purposes set forth in this Act.
Such dispositions shall be made only by a
vote of the trustees in which at least Three (3)
members four (4) trustees vote in favor of such
disposition, and further only after having been approved by a two
thirds (2/3) vote of an annual or
special financial town meeting of the Town of
construed to authorize the sale, lease, or conveyance of lands
or improvements held by the trust as
part of a charitable trust or acquired by gift or devise
for public use, whether or not such gift or
devise is subject to a condition subsequent or reverter.
(h)
Otherwise do all things necessary for the performance of its duties, the
fulfillment of
its obligations and the conduct of its business.
SECTION 6
Accounting Procedures
All
funds collected shall be deposited in a funds to be
set up as a revolving and restricted
account by the treasurer of the Town of
voluntary contributions, grants or loans, funds appropriated to
the trust by vote of a financial
town meeting of the Town of
shall be deposited into said account. All expenses lawfully
incurred by the trust in carrying out
the provisions of this act shall be evidenced by vouchers
and shall be paid by the treasurer of the
Town of
of the Town of
the Town's investment policies, and all income thereon
shall accrue to the fund. Upon termination
or dissolution of the trust which remain after payment
or making provision for payment of all
bonds, notes and other obligations of the trust shall vest
in the Town of
SECTION 7
Issuance of Bonds
The
town of
granted, to issue bonds from time to time, upon the written
request of the trust, under its corporate
name and seal for the purpose of financing the activities
of the trust and under this act.
(a)
Bonds may be issued or authorized only upon the approval of a majority of the
voters
present at an annual or special Financial Town Meeting. The
bonds of each issue may be issued in
a form acceptable to the town council, in annual
installments of principal, the first installment not
later than thirty (30) years after the date of the bonds.
For each issue the amounts payable
annually for principal and interest combined either (a) shall
be as nearly equal from year to year
as it practicable in the opinion of the officers
authorized to issue the bonds, or (b) shall be
arranged in accordance with a schedule providing for a more rapid
amortization of principal, or
(c) shall
be arranged in annual installment of principal each of which does not exceed
any prior
installment by more than sixteen (16%) percent of the total
principal amount of the issue.
(b)
The bonds shall be signed by the town Treasurer and by the President of the
town
council and shall be issued and sold in such amounts as
authorized by the voters at an annual or
special Financial Town Meeting. The manner of sale,
denominations, maturities, interest rates and
other terms and conditions and details or any bonds or
notes issued under this Act, may be fixed
by the proceedings of the town and town council or, to
the extent provisions of these matters are
not so made, they may be fixed by the officers authorized
the sign the bonds or notes. The
proceeds derived from the sale of of
the bonds shall be delivered to the Treasurer to be deposited
in the fund established by Section 6 of this Act, and
such proceeds exclusive of premiums and
accrued interest shall be expended (i)
for the purpose of real property or interests therein by the
trust, or (ii) in payment of the principal of or interest
on temporary notes issued under subsection
(c) or
(iii) in repayment of advances under subsection (d). No purchaser of any bonds
or notes
under this act shall be in any way responsible for the
proper application of the proceeds derived
from the sale thereof. The proceeds of bonds or notes
issued under this Act, any applicable
federal or state assistance, and the other moneys referred to
in subsection (c) shall be deemed
appropriated for the purposes of this Act without further action
than that required by this Act.
(c)
The Town Council may by resolution authorize the issue from time to time if
interest
bearing or discounted notes in anticipation of the issue of
bonds or in anticipation of the receipt of
federal or state aid may not exceed the amount of available
federal or state aid as estimated by the
treasurer. Temporary notes issued hereunder shall be signed by
the treasurer and president of the
town council and shall be payable within one (1) year from
their respective dates, but the
principal of and interest on notes issued for a shorter period
may be renewed or paid from time to
time by the issue of other notes hereunder, provided the
period from the date of an original note
to the maturity of any note issued to renew or pay the
same debt or the interest thereon shall not
exceed five (5) years.
(d)
Pending any authorization or issue of bonds hereunder or pending or in lieu of
any
authorization or issue of notes hereunder, the treasurer, with the
approval of the town council,
may, to the extent that bonds or notes may be issued
hereunder, apply funds in the treasury of the
town to the purposes specified in subsection (b), such
advances to be repaid without interest from
the proceeds of the bonds or notes subsequently issued or
from proceeds of applicable federal or
state assistance or from other available funds.
(e)
Any accrued interest received upon the sale of bonds or notes hereunder shall
be
applied to the first payment of the first interest due
thereon. Any premiums arising from the sale
of bonds or notes hereunder shall, in the discretion of
the treasurer, by applied to the cost of
preparing, issuing and marketing bonds or notes hereunder to
the extent not otherwise provided,
to the payment of the principal of or interest on bonds
and notes issued hereunder may also, in the
discretion of the treasurer, be met from bond or note proceeds
exclusive of premium and accrued
interest or from other moneys available therefor.
(f)
All bonds and notes issued under this act and the debts evidenced thereby shall
be
obligatory on the town in the same manner and to the same extent
as other debts lawfully
contracted by it and shall excepted from the operation of
section 45-12-2 of the general laws. No
such obligation shall at any time be included in the debt
of the town for the purpose of
ascertaining its borrowing capacity. The town shall annually
appropriate a sum sufficient to pay
the principal and interest coming due within the year on
bonds and notes issued hereunder to the
extent that moneys therefor are
not otherwise provided by the trust. If such sum is not
appropriated, it shall nevertheless be added to the annual tax
levy. In order to provide such sum in
each year and notwithstanding any provision of law to the
contrary, all taxable property in the
town shall be subject to ad valorem taxation by the town
without limitation as to the rate or
amount.
(g)
Any bonds or notes issued under the provisions of this act, if properly
executed by
officers of the town in office on the date of execution, shall
be valid and binding according to
their terms notwithstanding that before the delivery
thereof and payment therefor any or all of
such officers shall for any reason have ceased to hold
office.
(h)
The town, acting by resolution of the town council is authorized to apply for,
contract
for any, expend any federal or state advances or other
grants or assistance which may be available
for the purposes of this act, and any such expenditures
may be in addition to other moneys
provided in this act. To the extent of any inconsistency
between any law of this state and any
applicable federal law or regulation, the latter shall prevail.
Federal and state advances, with
interest where applicable, whether contracted for prior to or
after the effective date of this act,
may be repaid as project costs under subsection (b).
(i) Bonds and notes may be issued under this act without
obtaining approval of any
governmental agency or the taking of any proceedings or the
happening of any conditions except
as specifically required by this act for such issue. In
carrying out any project financed in whole or
in part under this act. All action shall be taken which
is necessary to meet constitutional
requirements whether or not such action is otherwise required; but
the validity of bonds and notes
issued hereunder shall in no way depend upon the validity or
occurrence of such action.
(j)
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, no bonds shall be
issued in
excess of amounts approved from time to time by vote of a
majority of electors present and
voting on the question at an annual or special financial
town meeting. A vote not to approve an
amount of bonds hereunder shall not preclude any later vote
to approve the same or a different
amount.
SECTION 8
Tax Status of Trust
The
trust and all its revenues, income and real and personal property used by the
trust for
the furtherance of its public purpose shall be exempt
from taxation and from betterment and
special assessments, and the trust shall not be required to
pay any tax, excise or assessment to the
state or any of its political subdivision.
SECTION 9
Severablity Severability
The
provisions of this act are severable, and if any provision thereof shall be
held invalid
in any circumstances such invalidity shall not affect
any other provisions or circumstances. This
act shall be construed in all respects so as to meet all
constitutional requirements in carrying out
the purposes and provisions of this act all steps shall
be taken which are necessary to meet
constitutitional constitutional requirements whether or not
such steps are required by statute.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC02619
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