9 12 24 West Orange BOA ZB 24 06 PSEG Full size Transcript

Page 11 1 EIS memorandum. 2 And so I just wanted to note that since 3 the last meeting on August 15th, we did do a 4 resubmission. It included some updated landscaping 5 plans, including updated removal plans, as well as 6 details and updated landscaping plans and details. 7 And then we also submitted an EIS 8 memorandum. That was in accordance with the 9 comments raised by Chairman Neuer at the beginning 10 of the last meeting. We met with the planning 11 director, acting planning director, and did, in 12 accordance with that meeting, prepare the 13 memorandum, as well as a response letter to prior 14 comments that were received. 15 In addition to that and since that time, 16 we've received an updated report from the Board 17 engineer and we also received comments back from the 18 township forester indicating that the applicant does 19 comply with not only the existing but the new tree 20 ordinance, which is an important consideration for 21 the testimony you'll hear this evening. 22 And so with that, I'd like to go back to 23 the public portion of the hearing as it relates to 24 Mr. Briones' testimony. 25 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you.

Page 12 1 Mr. Briones, I know you were sworn. But, 2 Mr. Fisher, please readminister the oath for 3 tonight's hearing. 4 MR. FISHER: Please raise your hand. 5 M I G U E L B R I O N E S, having 6 been previously duly sworn, remained under oath and 7 was examined and testified as follows: 8 THE WITNESS: Yes. 9 MR. FISHER: Okay. You continue to be 10 sworn. 11 THE WITNESS: Thank you. 12 CHAIRMAN NEUER: I'm scanning. 13 Mr. Malanga, are you here? 14 MEETING MODERATOR: Yes. He's listed 15 under -- there's -- there's Kevin. If you want, 16 I'll promote him right now. 17 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Please. And when he gets 18 on, I'll promote him. 19 MEETING MODERATOR: He's coming in now. 20 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Malanga, when you get 21 on, please say something so we know you're here. It 22 looks like you're here. Mr. Malanga, there you are. 23 MR. MALANGA: I am here. 24 MEETING MODERATOR: There you go. 25 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Can you turn on your

Page 13 1 video? 2 MR. MALANGA: I did that -- let me see -- 3 then it went off. Try again. 4 CHAIRMAN NEUER: There it is. Oops. It 5 keeps kicking you off. What a shame. 6 MR. MALANGA: Some people wouldn't think 7 so. 8 CHAIRMAN NEUER: I wasn't talking to -- 9 MR. MALANGA: Good evening, Mr. Chairman, 10 members of the Board. 11 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Malanga, you've 12 indicated that you've retained an expert witness for 13 this proceeding. 14 My question for you is: Are you appearing 15 pro se or are you an attorney representing clients? 16 MR. MALANGA: Pro se, Mr. Chairman. 17 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Okay. So you're not 18 representing any other individual or organization? 19 MR. MALANGA: No. 20 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Okay. And is your -- is 21 your proposed expert witness with us? 22 MR. MALANGA: Yes, she is. 23 Ms. Paist-Goldman, would you please raise 24 your hand? 25 CHAIRMAN NEUER: I don't see her.

Page 14 1 MEETING MODERATOR: She's coming in right 2 now. 3 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Okay. Thank you, Megan. 4 Okay. I see her. 5 Welcome aboard, Ms. Paist-Goldman. 6 MS. PAIST-GOLDMAN: Thank you. 7 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Okay. The record will 8 reflect that Kevin Malanga, who is a citizen of the 9 community, has indicated that he wishes to 10 participate in this application. So I have removed 11 him from the public portion and placed him into the 12 field so that he can ask his questions of the 13 witnesses and present, when the time comes, his 14 expert witness. 15 Okay. So that takes care of the 16 housekeeping. 17 With respect to Mr. Briones, does any 18 member of the public have additional questions for 19 Mr. Briones based upon the testimony that he 20 presented to us on August the 15th? We've already 21 had questioning from someone named Khademi, 22 Mr. Malanga, and a landscape architect. 23 Does anybody other than those three 24 individuals have questions for Mr. Briones? Please 25 raise your hand so that Ms. Brill can admit you for

Page 15 1 purposes of asking your questions. 2 MEETING MODERATOR: Yes. We have Sally 3 Malanga ready to go. 4 Please state your name and address for the 5 record. 6 MS. MALANGA: Sally Malanga, Ridge Road. 7 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you. Welcome, 8 Ms. Malanga. This is the time for you to ask 9 questions, not to present evidence or testimony. 10 MS. MALANGA: Yes. Thank you. 11 Mr. Briones, when the facilities are 12 updated with new equipment, will the old equipment 13 be removed? 14 THE WITNESS: Yes, that is correct. The 15 old equipment will be removed. 16 MS. MALANGA: And how does that affect the 17 footprint of the equipment? 18 THE WITNESS: So we will be removing -- so 19 for us to install the next portion of our equipment 20 to power up our switchgear, we'll be removing the 21 existing equipment that's currently on-site as a way 22 for us to create the next part of the 23 infrastructure. 24 So we're basically reusing that same 25 footprint that's existing with the old equipment.

Page 16 1 We're going to be demoing it and we're going to be 2 constructing new 26 kV equipment on top of that in 3 order to properly feed the switch station or the 4 switchgear itself. 5 MS. MALANGA: Thank you. 6 And one other question. As project 7 manager, did you instruct your team to preserve as 8 many trees as possible? 9 THE WITNESS: As project manager, I've 10 taken the time to reach out to the team to give me 11 the best possible preservation of trees and design 12 in terms of doing the best way for us to install the 13 following substation. 14 This is our current design and our plan, 15 and based on the recommended design and part of our 16 infrastructure for this new equipment, we did put 17 that into consideration. And the following results 18 based on the further testimony that will be 19 presented further later on today with the 20 landscaping architect will cover that answer as 21 well. 22 MS. MALANGA: Thank you. No further 23 questions. 24 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you, Ms. Malanga. 25 Anyone else raising their hand, please?

Page 17 1 MEETING MODERATOR: Yes. We have Anthony 2 Longo. 3 Please state your name and address for the 4 record. 5 MR. LONGO: My name is Anthony Longo. I 6 live in Wayne, New Jersey, and I am the CPA of two 7 medical practices on each side of the PSE&G 8 switching station. 9 And my question is that, Mr. Briones, are 10 you aware that there are two surgery centers on each 11 side of the -- of the PSE&G switching station right 12 on Mount Pleasant Avenue and on Prospect Avenue? 13 Are you aware of that? 14 THE WITNESS: I believe there are medical 15 facilities, but a surgery center, like I mentioned 16 before, I'm not too aware of that. 17 MR. LONGO: Yeah. So I just want to note, 18 just wanted to bring that to your attention, 19 especially if there's any kind of -- 20 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Longo. Mr. Longo, I 21 know you're not an attorney and I'm giving you 22 leeway because you should not be representing anyone 23 but yourself. 24 MR. LONGO: Okay. 25 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Even though you are not a

Page 18 1 resident of this community, you are entitled to 2 appear before this Board. However, this is the time 3 for you to ask questions, not to make statements, 4 not to give testimony. So please limit yourself to 5 questioning. 6 MR. LONGO: Okay. So that was my 7 question. Are you aware of the surgery centers on 8 each side of the switching station? 9 THE WITNESS: We have identified that 10 there are medical facilities around the station 11 itself like you mentioned before. I wasn't too 12 clear on the specifics of the surgery center, but 13 now that you've noted it, thank you for letting me 14 know where and I'll take a look more when I visit 15 the site. 16 MR. LONGO: Right. Thank you very much. 17 Thank you. 18 THE WITNESS: Appreciate the question. 19 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you, Mr. Longo. 20 Ms. Brill? 21 MEETING MODERATOR: I'm not seeing any 22 other hands. 23 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Public questioning 24 portion is at an end. 25 Let's go back full screen, please. Thank

Page 19 1 you. 2 Let me turn this back over to Ms. Porter. 3 Please continue. 4 MS. PORTER: Sure. So as our next witness 5 for this evening, I'd like to call Mr. Michael 6 Blake. 7 MR. FISHER: Please raise your right 8 hand. 9 MR. BLAKE: I have my camera turned on. 10 M I C H A E L B L A K E, having been 11 duly sworn, was examined and testified as 12 follows: 13 THE WITNESS: Yes. 14 MR. FISHER: You are sworn. 15 THE WITNESS: Thank you. 16 MS. PORTER: Thank you. 17 DIRECT-EXAMINATION 18 BY MS. PORTER: 19 Q. Mr. Blake, could you please give your full 20 name and business address for the record? 21 A. Yes. So my name is Michael Blake. I am a 22 civil engineer with Burns & McDonnell Engineering 23 Company. Address is 4900 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, 24 Missouri 64114. 25 Q. Thank you.

Page 20 1 And how long have you been employed by 2 Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company? 3 A. Going on close to five and a half years. 4 Q. Great. Thank you. 5 And could you briefly describe your 6 educational background for the benefit of the 7 Board? 8 A. Yes. So I graduated with a bachelor of 9 science in civil engineering in 2002 from the 10 University of Missouri in Columbia. 11 Q. Great. Thank you. 12 And could you briefly describe your 13 professional background? 14 A. Yeah. So since graduating I've worked at 15 a couple of consulting firms that spanned over 20 16 years. That's included -- a lot of my work has been 17 in the power industry. I've done multiple 18 electrical substations and power-generation 19 facilities for numerous clients ranging from 20 investor-owned utilities to municipal cooperatives. 21 And then since 2019, when I joined Burns & 22 McDonnell, I immediately started working on PSE&G 23 projects and in the State of New Jersey. 24 Q. All right. Thank you. 25 And you hold a professional civil