November 13, 2024 Planning Board Special Meeting Transcript - WEHI

49 1 A The WREEC, those manuals were K to 12. 2 Q Now, what did you write your master’s thesis 3 on? 4 A I did not -- I did a master’s on the 5 interpretation -- I had two things I did for a 6 master’s. There were two paths I could take. The 7 first was called a comprehensive examination system 8 which I did take, and obviously passed. 9 The second was a thesis on the interpretation 10 of a natural area which was the Delaware and Hudson 11 Canal in Port Jervis, New York on natural 12 interpretation of the site. 13 Q What does natural interpretation refer to? 14 A Interpretation of natural areas. Like, you might 15 see, you know, when you go to a park, a national park, 16 a ranger will give you interpretations of nature as a 17 naturalist. It was my writing helping to write the 18 curriculum and studying the park for that. 19 Q Now, the Learning Tree Project was also an 20 educational program for school children, in effect, 21 right? 22 A Yes. 23 Q Okay. Now, you mentioned you did a report 24 during your Master’s degree program. When did you 25 graduate in your master’s degree program? 50 1 A Eighty-two. 2 Q Eighty-two. Now, in terms of your 3 professional experience, your resume from your website 4 doesn’t refer to anything dealing with forestry, would 5 you agree? 6 A Correct, because I’m not a forester. 7 Q And it doesn’t refer to anything dealing with 8 any areas -- strike that -- it refers to the following: 9 Sustainable solutions for commercial, institutional and 10 residential buildings, am I correct? 11 A Sounds correct. I don’t have it in front of me. 12 I’ll trust you. 13 Q Development of environmentally friendly 14 purchasing policies, does that sound right? 15 A Mm-mm -- yes, it does, sorry. 16 Q Energy reduction strategies? 17 A Yes. 18 Q LEED building practices? 19 A Yes. 20 Q Recycling? 21 A Yes. 22 Q Solid waste handling systems? 23 A Yes. 24 Q It also refers to -- strike that. Now, it 25 does say you have successfully negotiated with county 51 1 government, New Jersey Department of Environmental 2 Protection, New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and 3 New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on issues ranging 4 from solid waste licensing to environmental and 5 regulatory changes covering many areas of environmental 6 concern. Do you have any more specific to add to that 7 rather broad statement? 8 A I don’t know what you’re looking for in the way

ntal and 5 regulatory changes covering many areas of environmental 6 concern. Do you have any more specific to add to that 7 rather broad statement? 8 A I don’t know what you’re looking for in the way of 9 specifics. I don’t have a way to answer that. I’ve 10 been in business for nearly 30 years. I can’t really 11 remember everything I’ve ever negotiated at this point. 12 Q Where in your CV that you published on your 13 website does it refer to deer management or deer 14 maintenance? 15 A It doesn’t. 16 Q It does not? 17 A No. 18 Q And where in your CV does it refer anywhere 19 to holistic analysis of ecological settings? 20 A With those specific words it doesn’t state that 21 but the entire premise of the CV is to get to that 22 point, is to explain to a potential client that if they 23 have an issue, we look at things holistically. We 24 don’t look at a specific item, per se, unless that 25 specific item has relevance to the holistic issue. 52 1 For example, you will see LEED green building 2 in there, as you read. In LEED green buildings, one of 3 the things we look at, depending on the development 4 that we are looking at, we will look at the plantings. 5 We will look at whether it’s virgin land vis-a-vis 6 forest or if it’s brownfield. We usually look at both. 7 We will look at energy. We will look at 8 water. We will look at runoff, we will look at 9 stormwater, we will look at ways to reduce all of 10 those. I have worked on projects where I’ve done the 11 calculations to reduce stormwater from roof lines and 12 how to meet certain standards for green building, 13 working with an engineer, of course. That -- 14 Q Does it say anywhere -- sorry, go ahead. 15 A No, go ahead. 16 Q Does it say anywhere in your CV that you 17 actually do work in the area of analyzing forests, 18 woodlands or other natural settings? 19 A No, it’s not called that. 20 Q Okay. Thank you. Now, tell us how you 21 became to be involved in the negotiating committee that 22 lead to what we’ve generally referred to as the 23 settlement agreement? 24 THE CHAIRPERSON: We’re going to stop right 25 there. No settlement agreement here. We have an