NEW YORK, Ramadan 4, 1438, May 30, 2017, SPA -- A New Jersey town will pay $3.25 million and provide anti-discrimination training to its officials to resolve allegations by the U.S. government and a Muslim group that the town illegally rejected plans for a mosque, Reuters reported. The agreement between Bernards Township, which is located about 30 miles (48 km) west of New York City, and the U.S. Department of Justice will allow the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge to build a new prayer facility. The town's governing body voted 4-1 last week to approve settling separate lawsuits filed last year by the Justice Department and by the Islamic Society, but the terms of the deal were only made public Tuesday. The town did not admit any wrongdoing under the settlement agreements. The Justice Department complaint, filed in November in the waning days of Barack Obama's presidency, said the town's planning officials deliberately set out impossibly strict requirements that the Islamic Society could not meet, after members of the public raised objections based on religious bias. The town had previously allowed the construction of churches and synagogues under similar circumstances without objection, according to the center's lawyers. The Islamic Society spent four years seeking approval, including 39 separate hearings. -- SPA 21:53 LOCAL TIME 18:53 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w417882