August 14, 2024 Planning Board Special Meeting Transcript - WEHI

12 (Pages 42 to 45)12 (Pages 42 to 45) Page 42 1 Mr. Appel had testified about how the ordinance and 2 the settlement agreement required building all 3 construction or development to be west of that 4 ridgeline, and Mr. Appel testified that the actual, 5 you know, land east of that line actually still 6 remains a bit flat but -- I don't want to take his 7 words from him, but I think there might be some 8 confusion about all the buildings and how they're 9 built into the slopes on the property with the 10 actual ridgeline that's on the concept plan and on 11 our plans. 12 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Mr. Appel, do you 13 agree with that? 14 MR. APPEL: Yes. Yes, I do. Building 15 D, if that is your question -- 16 MS. BENYO: Um-hum. 17 MR. APPEL: -- was placed on the flat 18 area that was prescribed in the ordinance and 19 there's a -- there are ridgeline measurements and we 20 designed the building to fit within those lines that 21 were created by the ordinance. 22 MS. BENYO: Okay, thank you. And what 23 geotechnical assessments have been done for those 24 buildings on that slope? 25 MR. APPEL: Well, what you've got to Page 44 1 MS. BENYO: Will there be any publicly 2 available information for a geotechnical assessment 3 on the stability of the slope with the additional 4 weight of the building and construction and blasting 5 and water irrigation systems and new pipes and 6 gates? 7 MR. PLOCKER: My client will have to 8 apply for building permits with the Township of West 9 Orange. There are many regulations and state 10 regulations that govern those items and my client 11 will have to comply with them. And once those 12 permit applications are filed, presumably, they will 13 be available from the Township of West Orange. 14 MS. BENYO: And what would be some -- 15 an example of a reason that you might not be able to 16 build on a site based on those assessments? 17 MR. APPEL: I'm not aware; the 18 question is not if, the question is how, so 19 normally, these things are -- they design the 20 foundations based on the subsurface conditions. 21 MS. BENYO: Thank you. And I have a 22 question for the Board. Will the Township of West 23 Orange be hiring a geotechnical engineer to assess 24 the stability of the slope and the impact that this 25 will have to the land and the surrounding land Page 43 1 remember is this is a Planning Board application, so 2 the hard engineering for

ssess 24 the stability of the slope and the impact that this 25 will have to the land and the surrounding land Page 43 1 remember is this is a Planning Board application, so 2 the hard engineering for construction drawings 3 hasn't been done yet. 4 MS. BENYO: If I might, I'm running 5 out of time so if I might just interrupt you. When 6 will the geotechnical assessments -- 7 MR. APPEL: There was -- 8 MS. BENYO: -- be done? 9 MR. APPEL: There was already 10 geotechnical reports -- 11 MS. BENYO: Um-hum. 12 MR. APPEL: -- as a starting point, 13 indicating height and levels of rock and suitability 14 for design and foundations. That is done, not by me 15 but by a structural engineer who will review all 16 that and design the foundation so that they will 17 properly interface with the subsurface conditions. 18 MS. BENYO: And where is that 19 information available to the public? 20 MR. PLOCKER: It's not. 21 MR. APPEL: It's not -- 22 MR. PLOCKER: It's not part of this 23 application. 24 MR. APPEL: -- part of this 25 application. Page 45 1 around it? 2 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Don't know yet. 3 We'll get back to you on that. 4 MS. BENYO: Okay, thank you. 5 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: You're welcome. 6 MS. BENYO: Can I continue? I have 7 just another section about the fencing. 8 CHAIRMAN BAGOFF: Go ahead. One more 9 and -- 10 MS. BENYO: So these are questions now 11 specifically about the fencing. Are you responsible 12 for designing the deer fencing and selecting the 13 materials? 14 MR. APPEL: I am not personally. 15 MS. BENYO: Who is responsible for 16 selecting the materials and installing the deer 17 fencing? 18 MR. APPEL: I would assume it would be 19 under the -- the responsibilities of the site 20 engineer. 21 MS. BENYO: And when will it be 22 available to speak to the site engineer during this 23 hearing process? 24 MR. PLOCKER: Well, Mr. Anderson 25 testified; if you have further questions, there's a