The Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) in the Department of Community Affairs recently announced several bid threshold adjustments that will impact New Jersey municipality’s award of public contracts. Unless certain exceptions apply, all contracts for the procurement of goods or services by municipalities that in the aggregate exceed the
In State v. Ivonne Saavedra, the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that a school board clerk could be criminally indicted for taking confidential documents from the North Bergen Board of Education. In so ruling, the court rejected the defendant’s arguments that that Quinlan v. Curtiss-Wright Corp., 204 N.J. 239
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a municipal ordinance enacted by the City of Los Angeles. In City of Los Angeles v. Patel, the majority held that the ordinance, which authorized police to inspect motel registration records without advance notice, violated the Fourth Amendment of the
The Appellate Division has addressed the appraisal and good faith negotiation obligations of a condemning authority under N.J.S.A. 20:3-6. In County of Morris v. Randolph Town Center Associates, L.P., the court held that the County of Morris made a fair offer and attempted to initiate bona-fide negotiations, despite the property
The Appellate Division recently addressed when New Jersey planning boards must grant exceptions from the requirements for site plan approval under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-51(b). In White Castle System Inc. v. Planning Board of the Township of Middletown, the appeals court held that the Planning Board of the Township of Middletown (the
In Grabowsky v. Twp. of Montclair, the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that municipal officials could be disqualified from voting on redevelopment matters if they belong to organizations that may be impacted by the project. Under the newly established conflict of interest rule, when a public official serves in
The Appellate Division recently upheld a decision by the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to reject an application to build a wind farm off the coast of New Jersey. The case is In re Petition of Fishermen’s Atlantic City Windfarm LLC. The Legal Background In 2010, Gov. Chris Christie signed
A New Jersey district judge recently dismissed part of a lawsuit filed by the Borough of Paulsboro in the wake of a 2012 train derailment and subsequent chemical spill. The federal court held, on a motion to dismiss under FRCP 12(b) (6), that the borough had failed to plead facts
