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

Page 61 1 remove trees. 2 THE WITNESS: Right. 3 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: And, Mr. Scott, 4 tell me if this is part of your question; that your 5 testimony addressed specific trees that needed to be 6 removed in regard to the substation and then there 7 are other trees that are being removed that are not 8 part of the actual construction. 9 So can you at least address those that are 10 being removed due to the construction and the new 11 substation? 12 COMMISSIONER SCOTT: And the switching 13 equipment. 14 MS. PORTER: Right. 15 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: And switching 16 equipment. 17 BY MS. PORTER: 18 Q. Right. Can you walk them through 19 specifically the area of the new equipment and then 20 in swaths of the trees explain what specifically is 21 going in that general vicinity that's necessitating 22 the removal? 23 And then, ultimately, the landscape 24 architect can obviously embellish upon that and 25 explain further out in terms of removal of dead

Page 62 1 trees and otherwise. 2 But if you could specifically address it 3 as it relates specifically to the equipment, the 4 duct banks, as well as the stormwater basins, what 5 tree removal is occurring in connection with those 6 specific site features. 7 A. Yes. So I'm going to do kind of a 8 side-by-side of the site plan and the tree removal 9 plan, which is Drawing TR-01 which was provided 10 prior to tonight. It was sent to the Board as an 11 updated plan. 12 In general, though, the areas that are red 13 is new equipment. So the trees where the new 14 equipment is will be removed because we can't have 15 trees in the middle of the station and where the 16 equipment is going to be located, you obviously 17 can't have trees. 18 The bioretention basin -- 19 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Can you 20 quantify how many trees are being removed in those 21 areas, in each area? 22 THE WITNESS: There is a table on here. I 23 don't know if it's broken down by specific areas, 24 but it does, you know, explain the total tree 25 removal. But I would have to go through and count

Page 63 1 exactly what is removed for just, you know, the 2 equipment. 3 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. So we'll 4 continue testimony and then we'll go back to perhaps 5 with the landscape designer/architect. Okay. So 6 that's one area. 7 Continue. 8 THE WITNESS: So then, you know, there's 9 several -- a cluster of trees in this area where now 10 you can see there's bioretention. There's two 11 bioretention basins right there. There are a few 12 trees that are being removed that are over existing 13 duct banks as part of just PSE&G's tree -- you know, 14 or vegetation management requirements. 15 So they are removing some of those with 16 part of these updates. But the access drive is 17 removing some of the switchgear. We'll be removing 18 some. The reconfiguration of the access drive to 19 allow -- had to be reconfigured to allow room for 20 two bioretention basins on the south side of this 21 access drive, so those trees were impacted as 22 well. 23 There's one miscellaneous tree that's 24 being removed over here because of the storm pipe 25 that is being routed back into the city's storm

Page 64 1 sewer system. 2 And then, as we go towards the north -- 3 and I will change the sheet as well -- there's 4 electrical bus equipment right here that is elevated 5 equipment. And trees can't -- there's a certain 6 requirement that PSE&G has for safety requirements 7 for, you know, reliability so that the equipment 8 isn't hindered by trees. That had to be removed as 9 well. 10 And then we are also doing some additional 11 grading here to tie into the bioretention to help 12 collect some of the stormwater. 13 And that's the -- that's the general area 14 of trees that are being removed due to the upgrades 15 and the requirements to meet New Jersey's green 16 infrastructure requirements. 17 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Okay. And can 18 you just highlight areas of tree removal that are 19 not related to the reconfiguration of equipment and 20 the items you testified to? 21 THE WITNESS: Based on the legend of this 22 drawing, it does show some additional trees that are 23 being removed. There's an X on them if they're 24 being removed for various reasons. Some are being 25 removed along the fence line depending on their

Page 65 1 proximity to the fence. Some are being removed 2 because of the type of tree it is. 3 And I will let our landscape architect, 4 you know, divulge into that deeper with, you know, 5 which trees are which and why they're being removed 6 if it's not associated with the actual substation 7 expansion. 8 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Mr. Scott, do 9 you have any further questions? 10 COMMISSIONER SCOTT: Yes. 11 Mr. Blake, the term "switching equipment" 12 is very vague. Can you give us an idea of the size 13 and how much is the quantity of switching equipment 14 that needs to be put in place in order to conduct 15 the engineering? 16 THE WITNESS: I'm going to defer that to 17 our electrical engineer. I am a civil engineer and 18 that's not my area of expertise. 19 COMMISSIONER SCOTT: Thank you on that 20 one. 21 Okay. There are other trees that are 22 slated to be removed specifically in order to 23 install detention pods. But the trees that are 24 being removed, they're not actually near where the 25 pods would be.

Page 66 1 Has it been considered to look at putting 2 the pods elsewhere? And I mention that because in 3 the previous case with Seton Hall Prep, they used 4 underground tanks under their athletic field on 5 Prospect Avenue and the Zoning Board approved those. 6 The Zoning Board also approved a settlement that was 7 brought by Mr. Malanga to preserve an additional 8 acre of trees at The Shillelagh Club. 9 When I look at what you're proposing for 10 the pods, I'm thinking they can be put somewhere 11 else and those trees don't have to come down. 12 Can you address that, please? 13 THE WITNESS: So in order to gravity-drain 14 stormwater to these bioretention basins, there 15 wasn't really any other location for them. We don't 16 advise putting them inside the station mainly 17 because there -- it can impede any repairs that 18 may be needed on the sub -- you know, on the 19 equipment. 20 Additionally, there's a lot of underground 21 utilities that are already all over this existing 22 station that go into duct banks that, you know, 23 leave the site. So the only place to really put 24 them was on the east side. 25 The reason we can't do underground tanks

Page 67 1 is because of N.J.A.C.'s requirements that 2 underground detention basins are no longer allowed. 3 They have changed the regulations for green 4 infrastructure, which happened in 2021. 5 The example project that you mentioned, I 6 don't know when that was done. And if it was done 7 after 2021, then it would have had to go through a 8 variance process which, if that's an acceptable 9 option, you know, we would definitely like to 10 explore it, but it would be going against what the 11 design requirements are for both the township and 12 for the state. 13 COMMISSIONER SCOTT: Okay. 14 MS. PORTER: So, Mr. Scott, I think as a 15 legal point, something that the applicant wanted to 16 indicate is that the bioretention basins, in 17 addition to Mr. Blake's testimony regarding, you 18 know, limited availability on-site for where they 19 can be placed, is the -- this is what is 20 specifically required in this amount in order to 21 comply with the state and local stormwater 22 requirements. 23 The township has the ability to grant a 24 variance, but ultimately we're dealing with two 25 environmental considerations here. We recognize

Page 68 1 that tree preservation is very important to the 2 township, but also stormwater considerations are 3 incredibly important as well as is stormwater 4 compliance. 5 So we are doing what's legally required 6 of the applicant in order to comply with the 7 current stormwater requirements. So it would be up 8 to the township if you request or would like the 9 applicant to reduce that compliance in order to 10 meet a competing public interest in terms of the 11 trees. 12 So that's something I think that the 13 Board should consider in connection with this 14 application. 15 COMMISSIONER SCOTT: Absolutely, and thank 16 you for that clarification. Mr. Blake just said 17 that that could be explored and so thank you for 18 that. 19 Finally, I just want to be sure. Your 20 original application was in compliance with the old 21 tree ordinance for the town. And you said tonight 22 that I believe that was updated to be compliant with 23 the current tree ordinance. Is that correct? 24 MS. PORTER: Yeah, so I had made that 25 statement on the record. That will actually be

Page 69 1 testified to by the landscape architect 2 specifically. But I can state for the record in 3 terms of legal compliance that the applicant -- we 4 were required because of time of application rules 5 to comply with the prior tree preservation 6 ordinance. We comply with that ordinance. 7 However, the applicant voluntarily agreed 8 to be bound by and comply with the new tree 9 ordinance. So the new tree ordinance has much 10 stricter requirements and the applicant meets those 11 requirements. And that is documented in the 12 correspondence that was submitted to the Board by 13 the township's forester that we're in full 14 compliance. 15 COMMISSIONER SCOTT: Thank you very 16 much. 17 No more questions for me. 18 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Thank you. 19 THE WITNESS: Thank you. 20 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Mr. Sussman. 21 COMMISSIONER SUSSMAN: Yes. Thank you, 22 Mr. Vice-Chairman. 23 Going back to the fence for a minute, if 24 you know -- because I seem to have viewed a couple 25 of different iterations of the fence. Is it going

Page 70 1 to be curved over at the top as in some of those 2 depictions or is it going to be straight up and 3 down? 4 THE WITNESS: It's going to be straight up 5 and down. 6 COMMISSIONER SUSSMAN: Okay. So that's a 7 different design than those curved samples. 8 THE WITNESS: That's what it shows. The 9 sheet that has -- 10 COMMISSIONER SUSSMAN: Yeah, right there. 11 Yes. 12 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: You testified 13 Stronghold? 14 THE WITNESS: Correct. 15 ACTING CHAIR SCHWARZBAUM: Is that curved 16 or straight? 17 THE WITNESS: The Gauntlet is curved. 18 That's not what we're proposing. We're proposing 19 the Stronghold, which the symbol shows it doesn't 20 have the Trident top or the curved top like that. 21 So the picture on their brochure is kind of vague, 22 but it is just straight up and down. 23 COMMISSIONER SUSSMAN: Straight up and 24 down and no points on the top? 25 THE WITNESS: Correct.