Governor Murphy – Page 2 – Project Development/Infrastructure/P3

June 9, 2020June 11, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

COVID-19: NJ Continues Moves to Re-Open, increasing Permitted Gathering Numbers

On June 9th, NJ Gov. Phil Murphy lifted New Jersey’s stay-at-home order and will allow for bigger social gatherings.

– Indoor Gatherings – the limit on indoor gatherings was raised to 25% of capacity or 50 people total; people are required to wear face coverings for these indoor gatherings

– Outdoor Gatherings – the limit on outdoor gatherings was raised from 25 to 100; furthermore, the limit on outdoor gatherings will rise to 250 on June 22nd and 500 on July 3rd

The increase to 500 on July 3rd is intended to permit outdoor graduations to resume in July, as long as fewer than 500 people are gathered together outside.

Exceptions will be granted for outdoor religious services and First Amendment activities, such as protests.

All outdoor recreational and entertainment may resume except for amusement parks, water parks and arcades.

Governor Murphy also announced on the 8th that pools will be permitted to reopen per announced schedules.

Duane Morris has created a COVID-19 Strategy Team to help organizations plan, respond to and address this fast-moving situation. Contact your Duane Morris attorney for more information. Prior Alerts on the topic are available on the team’s webpage.

For Further Information:

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Paul Josephson, Elizabeth Mincer, Jimmy Greenberg or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Be well and stay safe!

May 19, 2020June 11, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

COVID-19: NJ continues Reopening Program permitting additional Outdoor Activities and Businesses to Open on Friday 5-22-20 – Executive Order 147

Governor Murphy signed Executive Order No. 147 (“EO”), allowing certain outdoor activities at recreational businesses, including archery ranges, batting cages, golf driving ranges, horseback riding, shooting ranges, and tennis clubs as well as community gardens to open with required social distancing measures in place. The EO takes effect on Friday, May 22 at 6:00 a.m.

Outdoor Recreational Businesses: To limit physical interactions, the EO requires outdoor recreational businesses that reopen to limit capacity to 10 people at one time and implement reasonable restrictions that include:

• Using electronic or telephone reservation and payment systems;
• Prohibiting impermissible gatherings;
• Installing physical barriers between employees and customers;
• Limiting the use of equipment to one person;
• Implementing social distancing measures in commonly used areas, including demarcation and signage;
• Infection control and hygiene practices;
• Providing sanitization materials to employees;
• Frequent sanitization of high-touch areas; and
• Limiting occupancy of restrooms.

Community Gardens: Governor Murphy’s EO permits community gardens to reopen so long as they comply with the same restrictions implemented at parks under Executive Order No. 133.

All-Terrain Vehicle and Dirt Bike Rental Businesses: The Order allows all-terrain vehicle and dirt bike rental businesses to reopen to the public for “curb-side” pickup. Such businesses must comply with the same restrictions required for non-essential retail businesses.

Golf Courses: The EO relaxes four of the restrictions on golf courses, allowing them to expand tee-times to four players, allow the use of forecaddies, offer club and equipment rentals, and reopen restrooms with disinfecting and hygiene protocols in place.

The EO also recommends, but does not order, that people wear a face covering while in public settings at outdoor recreational businesses and community gardens when social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.

The EO further clarifies that amusements parks and arcades, and other places of public amusement located at these businesses remain closed, including places of public amusement that are located at a place otherwise authorized to be open by any executive order issued after March 21, 2020, such as a boardwalk.

For Further Information:

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Paul Josephson, Jimmy Greenberg and Elizabeth Mincer or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Be well and stay safe!

May 17, 2020June 11, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

COVID-19: NJ Gov signs 4 New Bills into law – continuing to open more businesses throughout the state – Mixed Drinks; Water Craft; Hospital Visitations; Local Government Meetings

Governor Murphy announced that he’s signed 4 new bills into law that allow more New Jersey businesses to reopen.

Fishing – fishing charters and watercraft rentals are permitted to reopen at 6 a.m on Sunday, May 17th.

Under the bill, charter boats and watercraft rentals are permitted to resume operations as long as social distancing is observed, sanitation is maintained, online payments systems are set up and passenger and customer logs are preserved for the purposes of contact tracing.

Alcohol – authorized the sale and delivery of mixed drinks.

Bill A3966 which was signed into law permits hotels, motels, bars and restaurants to sell and deliver alcoholic beverages and mixed cocktails in original containers or in closed and sealed containers. The bill also allows craft distillery licensees to sell for consumption.

Governor Murphy also signed these bills into law:

A-3942/S-2394 (Mukherji, Vainieri Huttle, Pintor Marin/Greenstein, Stack) – Requires hospital to permit individual to accompany woman during childbirth.

A-3969/S-2392 (Danielsen, Mukherji, Verrelli/Sarlo) – Allows extension of certain local government timeframes; allows local governments to accept certain payments; allows local governments to conduct certain meetings remotely; adjusts certain property tax distribution and notice requirements.

S-2344/A-3970 (Pou, Singer, Vitale/Reynolds-Jackson, Quijano, Zwicker) – Requires Medicaid and health insurance coverage for certain refills of prescription drugs during state of emergency.

For Further Information:

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Paul Josephson, Jimmy Greenberg. Elizabeth Mincer or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Be well and stay safe!

May 6, 2020June 11, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

COVID-19: NJ extends Public Health Emergency another 30 days to June 5, 2020

NJ Governor Phil Murphy issued Executive Order 138 (“EO 138”), which extends the Public Health Emergency declared on March 9, 2020 under Executive Order 103 for another 30 days until June 5, 2020. Under the Emergency Health Powers Act, a declared public health emergency expires after 30 days unless renewed. According to this newly issued EO 138, all previously entered Executive Orders remain “in full force and effect”.

The conclusions stated in EO 138 indicate that although New Jersey’s social distancing measures have helped to slow the increase of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the state, the total number of cases and deaths in New Jersey has continued to rise and would rise at an even more precipitous rate absent these important measures.

Governor Murphy emphasized the continued importance of social distancing as the best available tool given the lack of an available vaccine or another effective therapy.

For Further Information:

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Paul Josephson, Jimmy Greenberg or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Be well and stay safe!

April 29, 2020June 11, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

COVID-19: NJ Executive Order 128 allows for the use of Security Deposits to pay for Rental Obligations

Late last week (April 24, 2020), NJ Gov. Murphy signed Executive Order No. 128 (“EO”). The EO takes effect immediately and will remain in effect until the end of the public health emergency established by Executive Order No. 103 (2020). The EO applies in the context of residential leases (not commercial leases, given the ambit of the Security Deposit Act).

The EO allows residential tenants to use their security deposit for the payment of rent (per N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 et seq., a security deposit and any accumulated interest and earnings of such deposit remain the property of the tenant).

Upon a tenant’s written request, which may be an electronic communication, a security deposit that is governed by the provisions of N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 et seq. and the tenant’s portion of any interest or earnings that have accumulated may be applied or credited toward rent payments due during the public health emergency or up to 60 days after the public health emergency terminates. The use of a security deposit for the payment of rent will NOT be considered a violation of N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 et seq.

After a tenant has applied or credited the security deposit, interest or earnings to pay rent for the duration of the tenant’s current lease, the landlord can still charge the tenant any money the landlord expends that would have been reimbursable by the security deposit.

Per the EO, the tenant is NOT obligated to make any further security deposit relating to the current term of the contract, lease or license agreement.

If the tenant and landlord extend or renew their contract, lease or license agreement, the tenant will then be required to replenish the security deposit in full if it was previously used for the payment of rent, on the LATER of (A) the date that is 6 months following the end of the public health emergency and (B) on the date on which the current contract, lease or license agreement is extended or renewed.

Note: Pursuant to an earlier Executive Order, EO 106, residential evictions and foreclosures have been halted (i.e., “stayed”) for the time being until the public health emergency has been lifted by the Governor.

For Further Information:

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Paul Josephson, Elizabeth Mincer, Jimmy Greenberg or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Be well and stay safe!

March 19, 2020June 11, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

NJ COVID-19 – NJEDA Launching a Jobs and Hiring Portal for Employers needing Employees

Governor Phil Murphy and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) will be launching a COVID-19 Jobs and Hiring Portal to help employers who have critical hiring needs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the first step is to gather details on employers’ immediate hiring needs.

NJEDA now has a live intake tool for employers with urgent COVID 19-related hiring needs to complete ASAP. Employers can access this tool in two ways:

Through an online portal available at https://jobs.covid19.nj.gov/intake
As an Excel spreadsheet that can be downloaded at https://jobs.covid19.nj.gov/intakeexcel and then emailed to covid19jobs@njeda.com.

Please note: if an employer is hiring for more than five positions or hiring for a specific position at more than five locations, it is recommend they complete the intake process using the Excel form.

Information can be found at the NJEDA website and the jobs.covid19.nj.gov sites. Be safe and check it out if needed.