July 30, 2024 Planning Board Special Meeting Transcript - WEHI

31 (Pages 118 to 121) Page 118 1 MR. AFRAN: There's no credit in which 2 a certain number of shrubs will allow you to avoid 3 planting a full tree? 4 MR. ANDERSON: Not that I've seen. We 5 have shrubs and they're not included in our tree 6 count. 7 MR. AFRAN: So you say you're going to 8 actually physically plant 279 actual trees. 9 MR. ANDERSON: Actual trees and 1,013 10 native shrubs. 11 MR. AFRAN: And how many shrubs will 12 be removed that are in the woods at this time as a 13 result of this project? 14 MR. ANDERSON: I do not know. 15 MR. AFRAN: Has any survey been done 16 as to the age of trees that ought to be removed? 17 MR. ANDERSON: Not that I'm aware of. 18 MR. AFRAN: Have you done any study as 19 to the presence of vernal ponds or vernal -- strike 20 that. Have you done any study as to the presence of 21 vernal ponds on this site? 22 MR. ANDERSON: The wetlands scientist 23 for this project has studied it in its entirety, and 24 if they had found vernal ponds, it would have showed 25 up on the letter of interpretation that was granted Page 119 1 by the DEP. 2 MR. AFRAN: Are you able to answer 3 that question yourself sitting here? 4 MR. ANDERSON: I did not do the study. 5 MR. AFRAN: Okay. And if I asked you 6 about vernal habitat in the area of disturbance, 7 would you be able to address that issue? 8 MR. ANDERSON: Could you restate that, 9 please? 10 MR. AFRAN: If I asked you about the 11 presence of vernal habitat in areas of disturbance 12 for this project, would you be able to address -- 13 MR. ANDERSON: Yes. 14 MR. AFRAN: -- that question? 15 MR. ANDERSON: There's no vernal 16 habitat that's been identified within the limit of 17 disturbance. 18 MR. AFRAN: Is there any vernal 19 habitat that's been identified on the site outside 20 the limits of disturbance? 21 MR. ANDERSON: Not that I'm aware of; 22 I don't recall it in the LOI. 23 MR. AFRAN: So you're basing that on 24 your recollection of the LOI; is that fair to say? 25 MR. ANDERSON: Yes, that's correct. Page 120 1 MR. AFRAN: Thank you. 2 Several members asked about the 3 movement of fire trucks and other types of emergency 4 vehicles, if you recall. What actual test did you 5 do to determine the efficacy of these plans with 6 respect to the movement of such emergency vehicles, 7 particularly fire trucks? 8 MR. ANDERSON: We use a program called 9 AutoTurn that places a fire truck -- a

mine the efficacy of these plans with 6 respect to the movement of such emergency vehicles, 7 particularly fire trucks? 8 MR. ANDERSON: We use a program called 9 AutoTurn that places a fire truck -- a vehicle the 10 size of a fire truck and basically routes it through 11 the street network to see if it stays within the 12 curb lines. 13 MR. AFRAN: Did you do that analysis 14 for the movement of trucks past the Howell gate? 15 MR. ANDERSON: Yes, I did. 16 MR. AFRAN: On the actual layout of 17 streets beyond Howell? 18 MR. ANDERSON: Just for the initial 19 portion. 20 MR. AFRAN: The initial portion is 21 where? Please point to that. 22 MR. ANDERSON: Zoom, please. 23 MR. AFRAN: I'm sorry, are you 24 pointing? 25 MR. ANDERSON: So right up here Page 121 1 (indicating). So you see it coming into the 2 cul-de-sac and it gets down to here just before the 3 first intersection (indicating). 4 MR. AFRAN: Right, so aside from that 5 small stretch just above the northern limit of the 6 site, did you do any actual study beyond that point? 7 MR. ANDERSON: The study has not 8 extended past that point. 9 MR. AFRAN: I couldn't quite hear you, 10 I'm sorry. 11 MR. ANDERSON: The study has not 12 extended past that point. 13 MR. AFRAN: Thank you. Did you 14 contact the fire chief? 15 MR. ANDERSON: No. 16 MR. AFRAN: So when you say the fire 17 chief hasn't gotten back to you, it's fair to say 18 you never asked the fire chief about his viewpoint 19 or her viewpoint on these plans? 20 MR. ANDERSON: What I said is it's 21 typical to get a review letter from the police 22 department and fire chief outlining any concerns 23 that they have, and I have not seen that review 24 letter come. It is not that I requested a meeting 25 and it was -- and it was rebuffed or anything like