Terms

Borough of Metuchen

Borough of Metuchen Website Terms of Use

1.         Purpose

The Borough of Metuchen (“Borough”) owns and operates the Borough of Metuchen Website (Website”), located at www.metuchennj.org.  The purpose of the Website is to provide Borough information to the public in order to facilitate and conduct Borough business, advise the public of useful and practical information and to promote the Borough’s public purposes.  The Borough’s Website is not intended to serve as an open public form for open public discussion.

2.         Website Terms of Use

The Borough of Metuchen makes this Website available to the User based upon and subject to the User’s unconditional acceptance without modification of the terms, conditions and notices contained herein.  The use of this Website constitutes the User’s acknowledgement and agreement to be legally bound by all such terms, conditions and notices herein.  If User does not agree with these terms, DO NOT ADDRESS OR ACCESS THIS SITE.  The Borough reserves the right to change, modify or revise these Terms of Use without prior notice and any changes or modifications will take effect upon posting herein.  Continued addressing of the Borough of Metuchen Website will signify User’s acceptance and compliance with changes or modification to its policies and terms of use.  Please review the policies and Terms of Use set forth in this document before using the Borough of Metuchen Website.  The User should visit this page from time to time to review the current Terms of Use because they are legally binding on the User.  This Website shall not be accessed by anyone under the age of eighteen (18) without express parental permission.

A.        Use of Website

The Borough of Metuchen hereby grants the User a non-exclusive, non-transferable license for the term hereof to access and download, display and print one (1) copy of the content and functionality displayed on this Website (“Website Content”) on any single computer solely for the User’s own personal use, provided that the User does not modify the Website Content in any way and that the User retains all copyright and other proprietary notices displayed on their Website Content.  The User may not otherwise reproduce, modify, distribute, transmit, post or disclose the Website Content, including through a third-party Website, without the prior consent of the Borough of Metuchen.  Attempts to upload or change information on the official Website of the Borough is prohibited, unless written authorization is provided by the Borough of Metuchen.  The User also agrees that they will not disassemble, decompile, reverse engineer or otherwise modify the material.  Any unauthorized or prohibited use may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution under applicable federal, state, and international laws.

• Privacy

The Borough may collect information from Users on a non-voluntary basis. This information includes, but is not limited to, IP addresses, browser types, browser versions, referencing web pages, and server names.  This information may be collected by the Borough for the express purpose of statistical evaluation and better developing and maintaining the Borough Website. It is not used by the Borough in any way for the purposes of advertising.  In addition, information may be stored at the Borough or by its web hosting provider and is not accessible to third parties unless required by law or pursuant to court order.

Cookies:  The Borough of Metuchen Website uses cookies to enhance the User’s experience.  The User’s web browser maintains cookies on the User’s devices for record-keeping purposes and sometimes to track non-identifiable information about the User.  The User may choose to set their web browser to refuse cookies or to alert the User when cookies are being sent.  If the User, does so, please note that some parts of the Borough Website may not function properly.

Communications with the Borough of Metuchen.  Please note that e-mail and/or other online communication methods may not be secure to transmit confidential or personal information and the Borough does not warrant nor guarantee such.  Personal information that the Borough of Metuchen will obtain about the User when the User visits this Website is information that the User may e-mail or otherwise provide to the Borough of Metuchen.  The Borough of Metuchen shall use such information to respond to the User’s inquiry and/or comments or to address the issue expressed with Borough Departments or related/ third party entities.   The Borough of Metuchen’s use and dissemination of any such information is subject to the applicable state and federal laws and regulations with respect to any information that is provided to the Borough of Metuchen.  Please note that under New Jersey's Open Public Records Act, any email Users send to Metuchen is considered a government record and it may be disclosed as a requirement under the Open Public Records Act guidelines, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., the Right to Know law, and/or the common law Right to Know.  Other information obtained through the User’s visit or site browser that may not personally identify the User may also be collected as allowable by law to assist with webpage development and content. 

Further, communications made through electronic mail (e-mail) and/or messaging capabilities that may be available through or in connection with this Website shall in no way be deemed to constitute legal notice to the Borough of Metuchen or any of its agencies, departments, officers, employees, agents or representatives with respect to any matter or any type or kind, including, but not limited to, with respect to any applications, bids, submissions or existing or potential claims or cause of action against the Borough or any of its agencies, departments, officers, employees, agents or representatives.

• Linking to this Website

Creating or maintaining any link from another website to any page on this Website without the Borough of Metuchen’s prior written permission is prohibited.  Running or displaying this Website or any material displayed on this Website in frames or through similar means on another website without the Borough of Metuchen’s prior written permission is prohibited.  Any permitted links to this Website must comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations.

• Copyrights

All of the information and content of this Website, including, but not limited to its text, graphics, logos, icons, images and the selection and arrangement thereof, is the exclusive property of the Borough of Metuchen or its licensors.  It is protected by the United States and international copyright laws.  All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

• Third Party Websites

From time to time, this Website may provide links to or may be linked from other websites.  This is done for convenience only and the existence and/or provision of any such links neither constitutes nor implies endorsement or sponsorship by the Borough of Metuchen of (1) any such destination or departure website; (2) the products, services, content, viewpoint, accuracy, quality of opinions or policies of any such website; or (3) the creator or publisher of any such website.  The Borough of Metuchen makes no representations whatsoever about any website that the User may access through or from this Website.  The Borough of Metuchen has no control over or responsibility for any third-party website that is linked to this Website.  The Borough of Metuchen is not responsible for any materials stored or seen on other websites, nor is it liable for any inaccurate, defamatory, offensive or illegal materials found on such sites.  The viewing, downloading, storing or obtaining such materials is at the User’s own risk and discretion.   When User links to one of these sites, they are no longer on the Borough Website and this Privacy Policy will not apply.  When you link to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of that new site.

The Borough of Metuchen, its agencies, officers, or employees exercise no control over the organizations, views, accuracy, availability, copyright or trademark compliance or the legality of the material contained on those servers and do not sponsor, endorse, or approve the information, content, products, materials, opinions or services contained on such external sites.   The visitor proceeds to these external sites at their own risk. The Borough and its web development company specifically disclaims any and all liability from damages which may result from the accessing of a third-party site which is linked to the Borough Website, or from reliance upon any such information.

B.        General Disclaimer and Indemnification 

The Borough of Metuchen provides and maintains this Website for the convenience of the User as a public service.  While every reasonable effort is made to keep the information contained on or accessed through this Website as accurate and up to date, such information could include technical inaccuracies, typographical errors or other mistakes.  In addition, the Website may be unavailable from time to time due to maintenance, development or technical difficulties. 

Accordingly, the Borough of Metuchen provides this Website and the information accessed on or through it “as is” without guarantee, warranty or representation of any kind; expressed or implied.  In the case of any errors, discrepancies or conflicts between information appearing on or accessed through this Website and the official, printed version of such information that is available at Borough Hall, including, but not limited to, any errors, discrepancies or conflicts related to deadline dates or other requirement for the submission of materials or documents to the Borough of Metuchen, the official printed materials or documents materials will be maintained and available at Borough Hall, will take precedence and control in all cases.  Changes are made periodically to many Borough documents, including ordinances, documents, announcements and schedules.  These changes may or may not be reflected in the materials or information present on the Borough Website.  Independent verification of all information of this Website is strongly recommended.  Information may be deleted, modified or moved to a different part of the site without advance notice. 

In no event, shall the Borough of Metuchen, its officers, employees, agents or assigns, be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, incidental, punitive or other damages or other losses, costs or expenses of any kind whatsoever resulting from, caused by or arising out of or in connection with the Borough Website or the use thereof, its contents or any other cause whatsoever, including without limitation, losses related to the inability to use the Website, loss of data, any errors, omissions or defects in the Website Content, any lost or misdirected information, malfunction of communications equipment, computer equipment or software or notifications that fail to be viewed or transmitted due to problems with servers or transmissions (i.e. cable, satellite, dial-up, etc.), human error or any other cause.

C.        Limitation of Liability

The User understands and agrees that any information, documents or other materials that the User may download or otherwise obtain through the use of this Website are to be downloaded and obtained by the User at the User’s own risk and discretion.  The User will be solely responsible for any damages to the User or the User’s computer system, including, but not limited to, any loss of data that results from the User downloading or otherwise obtaining such material.  To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event will the Borough of Metuchen or (1) any of its affiliates, officials, employees or agents; or (2) any party involved in the creation, production or transmission of this Website, be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, incidental, consequential or other damages of any type or kind (including, without limitations, those resulting from lost profits, lost data or business interruption) arising out of the use, inability to use or the results of use of this Website, any websites linked to this Website or the materials, information or services contained at any or all such websites, whether based on warranty, contract, tort or any other legal theory and whether or not advised of the possibility of such damages.  In the event of any problem with this Website or any content or information available on or through this Website, the User agrees that the User’s sole remedy is to cease using this Website.

D.        Choice of Law:  Jurisdiction

These Terms of Use supersede any other agreement between the Borough of Metuchen and the User and to the extent necessary to resolve any inconsistency or ambiguity between them.  These Terms of Use will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey, without giving effect to any principles or conflicts of law.  Any claim or dispute related to or arising under or in connection with this Website, its use, or these Terms of Use must be brought in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Middlesex County, New Jersey and the User consents to said jurisdiction for the purposes of litigating any complaint.  A printed version of these Terms of Use shall be admissible in judicial and administrative proceedings based upon or relating to these Terms of Use to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form.  If any section, term or provision of these terms shall be adjudged invalid, such shall only apply to that section, term or provision and the remainder of these terms shall be deemed valid and enforceable. 

E.         Language Translation

Translation is provided by Google, an online third-party service, and accuracy is not guaranteed.  The Borough is not responsible for discrepancies or differences.  Translations for downloads, including, but not limited to, images, documents and PDFs are not provided.