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

Page 131 1 compliance by the forester in the 9/6 letter. 2 I would like to bring up the photo 3 simulations, if I may just speak to them briefly. 4 If I can get out of this. 5 So these were previously shown tonight. 6 If I can skip down to Viewpoint 1 that was Exhibit 7 A-2, I just want to point out just some of the 8 vegetation here because I know it came up as a 9 question. 10 So, yes, there is a difference between the 11 growing seasons. Obviously, the existing pictures 12 were taken in the spring. The proposed pictures do 13 show more of a summertime look. The intent is to 14 keep as much as possible along the street line and 15 that's where you're getting the tall canopy that you 16 see here. And we will be supplementing them with 17 additional trees in here. So we have a depth of 18 foliage from the street into the station to help 19 obscure the view in. 20 Moving down to Viewpoint 2, that was 21 Exhibit A-3. Of course, we see the -- I had 22 mentioned in my previous testimony that this is 23 obviously a deciduous view. And looking back at the 24 proposed, obviously with the foliage of the 25 deciduous trees upfront, you do get a sense of the

Page 132 1 depth of material here. 2 And this plant material that you see is 3 going down the slope a little bit, this is 4 evergreen material. So as opposed to the proposed 5 view here where you're going to see straight 6 through, there will be evergreen kind of material in 7 the middle of the planting to help shield the view 8 year round. 9 And it's a similar case as we move around 10 the site. This is the corner of Mount Pleasant and 11 Prospect. Same thing with the existing, with the 12 tall canopy. We are supplementing the Dogwoods with 13 some more evergreen material here, which is the 14 darker plant material that you can see in the 15 background. That extended down to the station 16 entrance that was previously discussed over here. 17 And then, similarly, at the station 18 entrance, we are coming back behind the proposed 19 fence line and we're proposing a number of 20 evergreen trees, specifically here trying to 21 create more of a wall of evergreen over time as 22 they grow and do fill in and will top out likely 23 in the 20-foot area, I would expect, and grow 24 together. So you'll have more of a green wall here 25 in time.

Page 133 1 And then the view all the way from the 2 west down Mount Pleasant. This really remains 3 unchanged, but it does show the evergreen trees here 4 shielding the building still. So everything down 5 here pretty much remains. 6 That really concludes my testimony. Thank 7 you. 8 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. So what 9 I would like you to do is to go tree by tree and the 10 rationale of why you're taking them down, whether 11 it's due to the requirements of the construction for 12 the equipment and substation versus along the fence 13 and give the rationale for the removal of trees. 14 THE WITNESS: It's really primarily due to 15 the nature of the improvements to the site. I mean, 16 obviously the ones inside the plant here, they have 17 to come down because of the equipment. 18 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: So how many 19 trees are there? So how many trees are you removing 20 in total? 21 THE WITNESS: In total -- and this is in 22 the table that was submitted as part of the 23 application -- there are 136 viable trees that are 24 slated to be removed. There are an additional 14 25 trees that are being removed that are considered to

Page 134 1 be nonviable. They're suffering in terms of their 2 health. 3 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. 4 THE WITNESS: Or they're already dead. 5 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. So let's 6 go through. So go back and let's take where the 7 equipment is. 8 THE WITNESS: The equipment right here. 9 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. So how 10 many trees are we removing due to the installation 11 of the equipment? 12 THE WITNESS: I have that number for the 13 equipment and the circulation. I have about 35 14 trees. 15 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. So you 16 have another -- okay. So I'll do the math. So 35. 17 We have approximately 87 trees that you're removing 18 that are not due to the equipment. 19 THE WITNESS: That are due to site 20 improvements. So it's either proximity to the 21 fence, its underground storm line that's going in, 22 for example, along Mount Pleasant. It's the duct 23 banks that are going in, the underground conduit 24 that are going in that we just heard about in the 25 testimony, or the bioretention basins.

Page 135 1 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. So let's 2 go through sections. I think that's what probably 3 makes the most sense. So let's go through sections. 4 We can start on the -- you want to do it on the 5 north -- 6 THE WITNESS: We can start at the top 7 here. 8 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: The north and 9 then work around. 10 THE WITNESS: Sure. So we're starting 11 here up on Prospect Avenue. Well, there are two 12 categories, I should say, of trees that are being 13 removed that we have on the plan. The ones that are 14 shaded, they were found to be a safety hazard and 15 they've already been removed. And the town forester 16 acknowledged in his letter to us that that is, in 17 fact, the case. 18 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: So 4363 and 19 4364? 20 THE WITNESS: Correct. And it extends 21 down Prospect Avenue. They're in close proximity 22 to the fence line. They were posing a hazard to 23 limbs falling, for example, on the fence, over the 24 fence. And they were slated or identified as 25 being a considerable hazard and they have been

Page 136 1 removed. 2 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: So how many 3 have already been removed? 4 THE WITNESS: That was 31. 5 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. So that 6 leaves 56 trees. 7 THE WITNESS: So moving -- I'm going 8 towards the interior of the site now. We do have a 9 cluster of trees here that are being removed. 10 There's a different hatch here. These are actually 11 in poor health. That's why they are slated for 12 removal. And that's really the only other 13 rationale. It's either new work or poor health. 14 Those are the only two reasons we'll be removing 15 trees. 16 So the ones up here, there's white ash, 17 for example, that is prevalent throughout the site. 18 But there's a cluster of white ash up here. White 19 ash is suffering from what's called the emerald ash 20 borer. It's a blight. It's impacting a lot of 21 trees specifically on this site but throughout the 22 state, and we're seeing it here. And we're seeing 23 detrimental impacts to the trees' health. 24 So they are in decline and posing a 25 hazard, effectively. So that's why you see some of

Page 137 1 these clusters up here. 2 As we move down the site, down Prospect 3 Avenue, here we get into one of the underground 4 conduits. Obviously, we have trees right in that 5 alignment so those trees are being slated to be 6 removed. 7 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: How many are 8 being removed for the underground conduit? 9 THE WITNESS: It depends on the location. 10 I don't have a number for -- 11 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: No, where we 12 are. I want to do it in sections. I think it's 13 important that we do it in sections. 14 THE WITNESS: I have four in this section. 15 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. 16 THE WITNESS: Under specifically this run 17 here. 18 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. And then 19 the trees along Prospect over there are already 20 removed, the ones that are -- 21 THE WITNESS: Correct. That's correct. 22 Anything along Prospect, the only reason they were 23 removed is due to their health. 24 So I'm moving down into the site. We're 25 getting close to where some of that new equipment is

Page 138 1 going and the road alignment. So there's some 2 grading considerations here. Grading is going to 3 cut into the slope. It's going to detrimentally 4 impact the root systems of these trees. That's why 5 they were slated for removal. 6 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: How many is 7 that? 8 THE WITNESS: I have ten. 9 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. Go 10 ahead. 11 THE WITNESS: And then moving down, now we 12 get into a cluster by the basins. So obviously we 13 have the equipment on the left, the equipment 14 alignment that's going along the access road here, 15 and then we get into the basin area where these 16 basins are placed. A couple of the trees are in 17 poor health. They've been noted as such I'm being 18 told. 19 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: And how many 20 are being removed here on this basin? 21 THE WITNESS: I have 23 on that basin. 22 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. 23 THE WITNESS: And that also kind of 24 dovetails with the next underground conduit 25 alignment which has an additional, actually, one

Page 139 1 tree out here that's slated for removal. 2 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: 4218? 3 THE WITNESS: 4218. 4 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. And 5 then -- okay. So that's 4218. 6 THE WITNESS: And we have an additional 7 five here for the next basin down. I have one, two, 8 three, four, five, six because of some grading here. 9 To the next basin -- 10 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: So the six. Go 11 ahead. Go back to the six. 12 THE WITNESS: Six right here. Two, three, 13 four, five, six. 14 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: So those are 15 due strictly to grade -- 16 THE WITNESS: Basin. 17 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: That's the 18 basin. Okay. 19 THE WITNESS: That's the basin. 20 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: 4172 and those. 21 Okay. All right. 22 And 4181 is sufficiently -- how far is it 23 from the basin? 24 THE WITNESS: I would have to estimate -- 25 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: 4175 is being

Page 140 1 removed. For 4170, how far is that from the basin? 2 THE WITNESS: Probably a good -- I'd say 3 probably about 30 feet, 20 to 30 feet I'm guessing. 4 I'm estimating I should say. 5 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. And 6 just -- all right. Okay. So 4182 is actually in 7 the basin area? 8 THE WITNESS: Yeah, and the grading that's 9 obviously along here. 10 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: And the 11 grading. Go ahead. 12 THE WITNESS: So there's further impact 13 than just the footprint of the basin. There's work 14 around that, there's equipment that goes around it, 15 which will compact soil, impact the soil structure. 16 If roots can't access oxygen and water, eventually 17 they fall into decline. So that's the concern 18 here. 19 Moving down to the corner, we have an 20 additional underground conduit coming in. So 21 there's two trees that are currently still up that 22 are slated for removal. Other trees in this 23 location have been removed already. One tree is in 24 decline. 25 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. Go