40A:9-154.6g Certificate required after January 1, 1997; exemptions, penalties.

7. a. Commencing January 1, 1997, the governing body or chief executive officer of each municipality, as appropriate, shall appoint a principal public works manager for that municipality. The requirement that every municipality shall have a principal public works manager may be fulfilled by the sharing of a principal public works manager with another municipality or municipalities under a shared service agreement entered into pursuant to the provisions of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-1 et seq.).

b. No person shall be selected to perform the duties of a principal public works manager unless he holds a public works manager certificate issued pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1991, c.258 (C.40A:9-154.6c), which certificate has not been revoked or suspended in accordance with the provisions of subsection b. of section 6 of P.L.1991, c.258 (C.40A:9-154.6f).

c. When a vacancy occurs in a position in which the duties of principal public works manager are performed, the governing body or chief executive officer, as appropriate, may select, for a period not to exceed one year and commencing on the date of the vacancy, a person who does not hold a certified public works manager certificate to perform on an interim basis, the duties of a principal public works manager. Any person so selected may be selected as principal public works manager for one additional year; provided, however, that no person shall perform on an interim basis, the duties of a temporary principal public works manager for more than two years in any municipality, and also provided that, in a municipality operating under the provisions of Title 11A, the Civil Service Act, no person so selected on an interim basis shall be required to perform out-of-title work.

d. Any municipality that conducts minimal or no public works activity may apply to the director for an exemption from this section. Such exemptions shall be valid for five years from the date of issuance, at which time the municipality must reapply for an exemption or select a person to perform the duties of a principal public works manager. Upon receipt of an application for exemption, the director shall have the public works advisory board review the application and make a recommendation to the director for approval or denial. If the director for good cause disagrees with the recommendation, he shall advise the public works advisory board of his decision and take any action he deems appropriate.

e. If a governing body or mayor fails or refuses to comply with this section, and has received an order from the director to do so, the members of a governing body or mayor who willfully fail or refuse to comply shall each be subject to a personal penalty of $25 for each day after the date fixed for final action that failure or refusal to comply continues. The amount for the penalty may be recovered by the director in the name of the State as a personal debt of the member of the governing body or mayor, and shall be paid, upon receipt, into the State Treasury.

L.1991, c.258, s.7; amended 1995, c.46, s.6; 2013, c.166, s.17.