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

Page 41 1 A. Yes, that is correct. 2 Q. Okay. Thank you. 3 A. Moving down to the proposed, you can see 4 that, as part of this, we are going to remove all 5 the chain-link fence with barbed wire and replace 6 that with the Ameristar fencing and continue it up 7 to a gate that is much farther up the road. It's 8 not part of this view. 9 COMMISSIONER RICCI: Mr. Chairman, may I 10 ask a question? 11 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Sure, unless 12 you -- let's -- maybe we should wait until the end; 13 but if it's a quick question, ask it. 14 COMMISSIONER RICCI: Well, I don't know if 15 it is or isn't based on I don't understand what the 16 purpose of these renderings are. And maybe the 17 engineer could tell us, because the renderings show 18 existing and proposed view, same view, except 19 they're night and day. The existing looks very bare 20 and ugly. It was taken in the dead of winter when 21 there's not a single leaf on any of the trees. The 22 proposed shows all this lush greenery. 23 So it's sort of like said, ooh, how could 24 you not say that that's not the better view? 25 But we're really supposed to be looking at

Page 42 1 the fence. And I don't think Mr. Blake has 2 explained anything very much about the fence. He 3 keeps calling it an Ameristar fence. Well, I know 4 what a chain-link fence is and I know, you know, 5 certain types of fences, but I assume Ameristar is 6 a manufacturer. It has nothing to do with a 7 product. 8 I don't even know what the material is. 9 What is the material? If it's going to be painted 10 black, Mr. Blake said, is it aluminum? Is it steel? 11 Is it -- what is the material of the fence? 12 Can you answer that, please, Mr. Blake? 13 THE WITNESS: I'm pulling up the document 14 so I can show you some close-up pictures. I 15 apologize. I thought I had it open and I did not. 16 We did provide it as part of our submittal. I just 17 don't remember what the document's called. 18 COMMISSIONER RICCI: Well, forget the 19 document. Can you tell us what the fence is made 20 out of? 21 THE WITNESS: I would like to bring up the 22 submittal that we provided. Okay. I apologize. So 23 Ameristar -- 24 BY MS. PORTER: 25 Q. Mr. Blake, these details that you're about

Page 43 1 to show were provided as part of the original 2 submission package, so they're already part of the 3 existing record that was presented to the Board. 4 A. Correct. It's labeled "West Orange 5 Compiled ZBA Application 5/15/2024." 6 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: So noted. 7 A. So here's a few examples of the Ameristar 8 fencing which, yes, it is a proprietary product. 9 It's a vendor, but it's PSE&G's preferred vendor. 10 We are going with a Stronghold, is the style. 11 There's three styles here, but it's -- like I had 12 mentioned earlier, it has an anti-scale feature 13 because it keeps the spacing between the 14 individual -- what do you want to call -- the 15 individual parts, the individual rails that go -- 16 the vertical rails. They are closely spaced to 17 prevent people from, you know, climbing them. 18 It's a structural steel material that 19 comes in various colors. The color we are going to 20 use is black. 21 COMMISSIONER RICCI: You just said it is 22 structural steel. Is that true? 23 THE WITNESS: Sorry. It's not structural 24 steel. I apologize. It is steel. 25 COMMISSIONER RICCI: Steel or aluminum?

Page 44 1 THE WITNESS: I believe it comes in 2 various materials, but it's steel pales is what we 3 are planning to use. 4 COMMISSIONER RICCI: It is what? Excuse 5 me again. 6 THE WITNESS: It says "High-strength steel 7 pales," and then there is probably parts of it that 8 are aluminum. So it's probably a combination of 9 both. 10 COMMISSIONER RICCI: Okay. 11 THE WITNESS: It is not structural steel, 12 though. I apologize for saying that. That was... 13 COMMISSIONER RICCI: It's a major portion 14 of your new design. 15 THE WITNESS: Correct. 16 COMMISSIONER RICCI: I understand security 17 is a major feature for what you need to or you want 18 to keep up in the world today. So I understand the 19 increased height. I understand the curved tops to 20 them. I understand even the proximity of how close 21 the verticals are. 22 I don't think you were prepared at all to 23 tell us what the stuff is made out of because I 24 don't know what "steel pales" are. I've never heard 25 of such a thing.

Page 45 1 THE WITNESS: I apologize. I'm not a -- 2 I'm not an expert on the materials for the fence. 3 I -- 4 COMMISSIONER RICCI: Is anybody in this 5 presentation going to be able to have enough 6 knowledge to tell us what the fence will be? 7 MS. PORTER: Sure. There will be further 8 testimony from our professional planner, who is also 9 the licensing and permitting manager, who is 10 specifically familiar with these materials and has 11 seen them be utilized at other sites. And so she 12 can provide further testimony specifically on the 13 condition of the existing fence as well as the new 14 proposed materials. 15 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. So the 16 planner will be testifying to what Mr. Ricci is 17 requesting about the type of materials that the 18 fence is made out of. Steel, aluminum, some -- 19 MS. PORTER: Correct. And she has 20 professional experience in terms of the usage of 21 this exact type of fencing at other facilities. 22 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. As 23 well as the rusting and how long it's proposed to 24 last? 25 MS. PORTER: Yes.

Page 46 1 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. 2 COMMISSIONER RICCI: And thank you, 3 Mr. Schwarzbaum, because that's the crux of my 4 question: What is the material and how long is it 5 going to last? Because Mr. Blake said it's painted. 6 Is it painted in the field? Is it factory baked on? 7 What are the finishes and all and how long is the 8 warranty on it and is it going to last before it 9 starts to not look good? 10 One last question in reference to this, 11 Mr. Chairman, if you don't mind, and it's something 12 that will carry on later. 13 The brick piers are spaced apart and being 14 removed. I agree with you a hundred percent. They 15 cannot be reused, one, because they're too short; 16 two, because they're a hundred years old and 17 deteriorating and falling apart. But it's very 18 aesthetically pleasing when we're driving past this. 19 Even the old rusted fence and old brick piers are 20 very aesthetically pleasing. 21 Is there not a reason why the new fence 22 can't be built with new taller piers every 20, 25 23 feet, whatever it is, spacing with the fencing in 24 between them? 25 THE WITNESS: I would like to defer that

Page 47 1 to later testimony. That's a decision that, you 2 know, we probably need to discuss. I'm not with 3 PSE&G so I don't want to commit to changes, but if 4 we could defer that question until later if that's 5 acceptable. 6 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: I agree. 7 MS. PORTER: So we can take that under 8 advisement and we can certainly address the Board's 9 comments and requests and then caucus separately or 10 privately at some point during this meeting and see 11 if there's something that can be proposed in 12 connection with the Board's request regarding the 13 brick pillars. 14 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. So let 15 Mr. -- I agree with you. We're going to finish this 16 and then let Mr. Blake continue his testimony. 17 COMMISSIONER RICCI: Thank you, 18 Mr. Chairman. 19 THE WITNESS: I'm going to go back to the 20 site plan or the -- yes, the site plan, Exhibit M-1. 21 There's a few things that came up in the previous 22 hearing with Mr. Briones. That was questions 23 directed to him that he asked to defer to the civil 24 engineer, so I figured this would be a good time to 25 discuss it.

Page 48 1 One of the questions was, you know, the 2 tree removal within the vicinity of the switchgear. 3 Not all trees that are being removed are associated 4 with the switchgear installation. It was kind of -- 5 it seemed like Mr. Malanga's question was kind of in 6 general just about the switchgear. 7 There are other trees being removed due to 8 other portions of the projects that are being built, 9 including the access drive, the -- you know, the bus 10 run, and the five bioretention basins that are being 11 installed. 12 And then one of the other questions is the 13 distance of the detention basin from each of -- from 14 the trees. It's kind of -- the distance varies. We 15 did make an effort to minimize the basin as much as 16 possible within the constraints that we had. 17 You can see there's various gaps between 18 the miscellaneous bioretentions because of 19 underground utilities that currently go through 20 there that are not super deep. So we weren't able 21 to go over the top of them. And the media that is 22 put into the bioretention basin, you wouldn't be 23 able to get the full effect of the BMP. So the 24 actual distance from the basin to the trees, like I 25 said, varies.

Page 49 1 We did put retaining walls on the back 2 side of four of the basins -- one, two, three, and 3 four -- in order to help reduce some of the 4 footprint and the grading that's associated with 5 it. 6 And then a few other items that I'd like 7 to discuss. There's a few corrections on this 8 site plan that I'd like to point out. One is 9 that the switchgear is called out as a two-story 10 and it is not. It's actually a single story. And 11 so we will get that revised on the comment 12 resolution. 13 There's also miscellaneous breaker that is 14 shown just north of this transformer that is shown 15 as proposed and it's actually existing. So we will 16 get that addressed. 17 And then if we go to Sheet 2 of 3 of the 18 site plan, this is called a Cat bank equipment. 19 There is a reconfiguration -- or what we had was a 20 GoBuy from the vendor. It's vendor-supplied 21 equipment. They ended up providing us a different 22 version of the Cat bank. So this will be revised as 23 part of comment resolution. It didn't really change 24 a whole lot other than it did shorten this access 25 drive a little bit. Because it's not as long. It's

Page 50 1 more of a square feature in this area. 2 And then, last thing is the schedule of 3 bulk requirements. In the table we show the maximum 4 lot coverage. Existing is 41 percent and then 5 proposed shows 44 percent, but the 44 percent was a 6 miscalculation and it should actually be 49 percent. 7 And that will also be updated in this table on 8 comment resolution. 9 BY MS. PORTER: 10 Q. Mr. Blake, that was correctly referenced, 11 the 49 percent, in the applicant's notice that went 12 out to the newspaper and the Board? 13 A. Yeah. 14 Q. Or newspaper and the public. 15 A. Yeah. 16 Q. Okay. Thank you. 17 THE WITNESS: Other than that, that 18 concludes my presentation. If the Board or the 19 public has any questions, I'd be happy to address 20 those at this time. 21 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. Just one 22 quick question. Are you going to have a landscape 23 design person testify? 24 MS. PORTER: Yes, Mr. Vice-Chairman, we 25 will have a landscape architect. And I'm glad you