9 19 24 West Orange BOA ZB 24 06 PSEG Condensed

cbd6abed-8cda-4dba-9ebd-560688bcfcb2 1 (Pages 1 to 4) Page 1 TOWNSHIP OF WEST ORANGE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT IN THE MATTER OF: : TRANSCRIPT : CASE: ZB-24-06 : OF PUBLIC SERVICE ELECTRIC AND : GAS COMPANY : REMOTE PROCEEDINGS 35 Mount Pleasant Avenue : Block 155; Lots 26.01 : __________________________________X Thursday, September 19, 2024 Zoom Remote Hearing Commencing at 8:00 p.m. BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: PHILIP D. NEUER, Chairman BRENT DRAPER SCOTT MICHAEL DANNEMILLER, (Alt) MARK SUSSMAN ALSO PRESENT: DIANA CHANDLER, Board Secretary JOHN HESS, Board Consulting Engineer GEORGE WHEATLE WILLIAMS, Town Planner JOSEPH FAGAN, Meeting Moderator PRECISION REPORTING SERVICE Certified Shorthand Reporters (908) 642-4299 Page 3 1 I N D E X 2 WITNESS PAGE SWORN 3 JOHN FUTEY 4 By Ms. Parlavecchio ................. 5 5 By the Board......................... 9 6 By Mr. Malanga....................... 41 7 NOREEN MERAINER By Ms. Porter........................ 69 8 By the Board......................... 96 9 By Mr. Malanga....................... 108 10 11 12 E X H I B I T S 13 EXHIBIT DESCRIPTION PAGE 14 A-8 through A-12 Photographs of existing PSE&G substation fences 88 15 A-13 Photograph of East 16 Rutherford substation 117 17 18 19 20 PUBLIC MEMBER COMMENTS: 21 Micaela Bennett................page 52/115 Sally Malanga..................page 59 22 Joyce Rudin....................page 61 23 24 25 Page 2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S: 2 SAVO, SCHALK, CORSINI, WARNER, GILLESPIE, 3 O’GRODNICK & FISHER, P.A. BY: STEVEN WARNER, ESQUIRE 4 Attorneys for the Board 5 6 CHIESA, SHAHINIAN & GIANTOMASI, PC BY: ERICA ANTONYA PARLAVECCHIO, ESQUIRE 7 and JENNIFER M. PORTER, ESQUIRE Attorneys for the Applicant 8 9 KEVIN MALANGA, ESQUIRE, Pro Se 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 4 1 CHAIRMAN NEUER: The application which we 2 have on our agenda for this evening is ZB-24-06, Public 3 Service Electric and Gas Company for property at 325 4 Mount Pleasant Avenue. 5 Ms. Parlavecchio, you're taking over this 6 evening to start the application, is that correct? 7 MS. PARLAVECCHIO: Yes, that's correct. So 8 I'll start with the opening and get through most of the 9 direct and then whenever Jen Porter arrives back here 10 she will take over for me. 11 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Okay. So please place 12 your appearance on the record. 13 MS. PARLAVECCHIO: Sure. Erica Antonya 14 Parlavecchio with CSG Law

Porter arrives back here 10 she will take over for me. 11 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Okay. So please place 12 your appearance on the record. 13 MS. PARLAVECCHIO: Sure. Erica Antonya 14 Parlavecchio with CSG Law on behalf of the Applicant, 15 PSE&G. 16 CHAIRMAN NEUER: And I again missed the 17 last couple of hours of the meeting but I did listen to 18 the audio tape and so certified. And as I looked 19 through my notes taken when I was going through the 20 audio, we finished the testimony, cross-examination, 21 and public examination of Mr. Briones. We finished Mr. 22 Michael Blake, Professional Civil Engineer. We 23 finished Mr. John Copa, Electrical Engineer. And we 24 had the direct testimony of Mr. Futey, F-u-t-e-y, 25 Landscape Architect. His direct examination was

cbd6abed-8cda-4dba-9ebd-560688bcfcb2 2 (Pages 5 to 8) Page 5 1 concluded and we started the Board examination. The 2 only Board member who didn't get to move forward with 3 questioning was Mr. Schwarzbaum. 4 So let's go with the remaining members of 5 the Board starting with Mr. Dannemiller. Do you have 6 any questions for the landscape architect? 7 BOARD MEMBER DANNEMILLER: I have no 8 questions for the landscape architect. 9 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you, sir. Mr. 10 Scott? 11 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Yes, I have some 12 questions, Mr. Chairperson. 13 CHAIRMAN NEUER: I'm sorry, we have to have 14 -- even though he was sworn last week, Mr. Warner, 15 would you be so kind -- Mr. Futey, turn on your video? 16 And there is Ms. Porter. 17 MR. WARNER: Mr. Futey, if you could raise 18 your right hand, please? Do you swear to God or affirm 19 that the testimony you're about to give is the truth, 20 the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? 21 THE WITNESS: I do. 22 MR. WARNER: Thank you. 23 J O H N F U T E Y, having been duly 24 sworn, testifies as follows: 25 MS. PARLAVECCHIO: And Mr. Chairperson, if Page 7 1 underground work that's being proposed, and as a result 2 of that underground work and some other siting of 3 equipment why we couldn't move switchgear equipment to 4 other locations on the site. 5 And Mr. Futey as we noted started 6 testifying with respect to the proposed landscape plan. 7 He provided some very specific detail about different 8 trees on the site and why those trees need to be 9 removed, whether it be from improvements on the site, 10 underground equipment, or stormwater improvements. 11 My hope for tonight is after we finish with 12 the Board questions for Mr. Futey and the public 13 questions that we will then have Noreen Merainer who 14 will testify in her capacity as a Professional Planner. 15 And as a lot of questions have come up about the 16 details about the proposed fence replacement, she will 17 be able to discuss those as well as the material. 18 And as a brief update at our last meeting 19 Jen Porter indicated in a response to some questions 20 about pillars in the new fence, because initially we 21 hadn't proposed to add pillars. PSE&G is willing to 22 add pillars along the Mount Pleasant Avenue and 23 Prospect Avenue frontages as part of the fence 24 replacement. The hope is that the pillars will be 25 spaced approximately 30 feet

is willing to 22 add pillars along the Mount Pleasant Avenue and 23 Prospect Avenue frontages as part of the fence 24 replacement. The hope is that the pillars will be 25 spaced approximately 30 feet apart so that the fence Page 6 1 you would like I can provide a brief opening statement 2 or if you want to just go and start with John Futey 3 it's up to you. 4 CHAIRMAN NEUER: It's your case. If you 5 would like to make a brief opening statement I'll 6 certainly honor that request. 7 MS. PARLAVECCHIO: Sure. I'll just be 8 really brief just to refresh everyone's memory and for 9 those who were not at the last meeting. So we were 10 last here on September 12th. As you have noted we had 11 finished direct examination of Mr. John Futey, and 12 today we will obviously hope to finish that. 13 We had presented our civil engineer, 14 Michael Blake, who had provided testimony about the 15 site plan, as well as the existing and proposed 16 conditions on the site. In addition to that he 17 provided some detail about the stormwater management 18 upgrades that are being proposed on the site due to 19 NJDEP requirements as well as green infrastructure 20 regulations. 21 Our next witness at our last meeting was 22 John Copa who discussed the electrical engineering 23 aspects of the 26kV replacement, the lighting proposed 24 on the site, as well as the additional lightning mass 25 that we will be providing. And Mr. Copa discussed the Page 8 1 kind of has the look and the feel of what is existing 2 today. And so in conjunction with that adding pillars 3 will make the fence slightly taller than the 8 feet we 4 had initially sought the variance for. So I guess to 5 clarify the variance we're seeking, we will have the 6 fence with pillars be no taller than 9 feet. 7 And Ms. Merainer in addition to her 8 testimony about the materials of the fence can kind of 9 walk the Board a little bit through what those pillars 10 might look like and show some samples of other fences 11 that have been used so that you can get a feel for what 12 the new fence will look like with these pillars. 13 So that kind of concludes my opening, and 14 if the Board doesn't have any questions for me Mr. 15 Futey can resume answering Board questions. 16 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Before we go into that I 17 need to place on the record the fact that I did attend 18 at the Municipal Building to inspect the fence. I

5 Futey can resume answering Board questions. 16 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Before we go into that I 17 need to place on the record the fact that I did attend 18 at the Municipal Building to inspect the fence. I was 19 there this morning. I spent about 20 minutes looking 20 at it, making sure I didn't cut my hand on the ugly one 21 that they're not using. And I will in part base any 22 decision I make on that inspection of the exemplar of 23 the fence. 24 I understand that none of my fellow Board 25 members took advantage of that opportunity. They have

cbd6abed-8cda-4dba-9ebd-560688bcfcb2 3 (Pages 9 to 12) Page 9 1 time to do it because we're not going to finish 2 tonight. So I would recommend that if you have any 3 questions, concerns regarding the fence you take a look 4 at it. It's painless. Ms. Parlavecchio, please 5 continue. 6 MS. PARLAVECCHIO: Sure. So I have nothing 7 further as part of my opening. I understand Mr. 8 Dannemiller has no questions for Mr. Futey but 9 obviously other Board members have the opportunity to 10 questions. 11 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Scott was about to 12 start. Mr. Scott the floor is yours. 13 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Thank you. Let me say 14 that I have visited the site two weeks ago, or maybe 15 even three weeks ago when this matter first came to us, 16 walked around the facility, looked at the trees -- 17 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Scott, could I ask you 18 to increase your volume just a bit, please? 19 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Speak up? How's that? 20 CHAIRMAN NEUER: That's better. 21 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Okay. That's probably 22 what's going on. What I said was I want to put it on 23 the record that I also visited the site several weeks 24 ago when this matter first came to the Board to look it 25 over and to walk around, glean whatever information and Page 11 1 THE WITNESS: Well, yes. We are in 2 accordance with the Ordinance in terms of our tree 3 protection, as has been verified by Mr. Kipp, the town 4 Forester. And the limit of disturbance is really held 5 to the new construction improvements. Trees are only 6 removed within that disturbance. 7 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Thank you. Can you 8 tell us how many years will it take for trees that you 9 intend to plant to reach the height and breast of the 10 canopy that exists presently? 11 THE WITNESS: Probably 40 to 50 years to 12 reach maturity. That's a pretty standard growth rate. 13 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Forty to 50 years? 14 THE WITNESS: Yes, correct. We're talking 15 about heights as they are now probably in the 50- to 16 60-foot range. 17 Q. Yes, okay. There's a provision on page 18 eight of the June 2024 Tree Ordinance under prohibition 19 Items number 12, no person shall remove trees if it 20 would constitute a significant change in the screening 21 between existing or proposed structures on rows and/or 22 adjacent to lots. 23 CHAIRMAN NEUER: I'm sorry. Which 24 paragraph are you reading from, Mr. Scott? 25 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: That is the

ning 21 between existing or proposed structures on rows and/or 22 adjacent to lots. 23 CHAIRMAN NEUER: I'm sorry. Which 24 paragraph are you reading from, Mr. Scott? 25 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: That is the June 2024 Page 10 1 understanding I could from it. 2 Okay. Mr. Futey, was preserving trees 3 considered in the planning process for this site? 4 THE WITNESS: It was, in relation to the 5 construction, the proposed construction, and the impact 6 that they would have on the existing vegetation. 7 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: What type of impact? 8 Could you be a little bit specific about that? 9 THE WITNESS: Well, in terms of, for 10 example, we have the bioretention basins going in, the 11 footprint of those, and also the grading that would be 12 required to fit those on-site. 13 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: An did you find that 14 any of the existing trees would interfere with that? 15 THE WITNESS: Yes. And that's reflected on 16 the tree removal plan. 17 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Thank you. Are you 18 aware that the West Orange Tree Ordinance in its 19 findings and purpose states that a 2023 study was 20 commissioned by the Township of West Orange and found 21 that the tree canopy was dramatically declining? 22 THE WITNESS: I did see that. 23 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: You did see that? And 24 did that have any effect on your preparation to save 25 trees or protect trees in your plan? Page 12 1 Tree Ordinance under prohibition Item number 12. 2 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you. 3 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Can you address at 4 that, Mr. Futey? 5 THE WITNESS: Well, as I mentioned, the 6 tree removal that we do have is really in direct 7 relation to the proposed work to facilitate the 8 improvements to the yard. 9 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: As you know, a number 10 of West Orange residents have objected to a lot of the 11 tree removal. Do you find that they presented 12 evidence, their testimony, and I believe others will 13 this evening. Are you saying that all of those are not 14 relevant or that they just don't matter? 15 THE WITNESS: I'm not saying that they 16 don't matter, but I am saying that we are in compliance 17 with the new Tree Ordinance that was adopted in June of 18 this year. And that was after we were in compliance 19 with the original tree ordinance at the time of our 20 application. 21 I would also point out within the ordinance 22 that there is an exemption under that section. It's 23 actually

e in compliance 19 with the original tree ordinance at the time of our 20 application. 21 I would also point out within the ordinance 22 that there is an exemption under that section. It's 23 actually Section "D" regarding public utilities and the 24 need for permits, but we're going through the 25 permitting process. We do have a review from Walt

cbd6abed-8cda-4dba-9ebd-560688bcfcb2 4 (Pages 13 to 16) Page 13 1 Kipp, the Town Forester, who is the ultimate surveyor 2 of the Ordinance verifying our compliance with the new 3 ordinance in terms of the counts, in terms of the 4 species. 5 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Thank you. Would it 6 be fair to say that if you cut the trees that you 7 propose to cut along the fence, the fence line on 8 Prospect Avenue and Mount Pleasant, it would remove the 9 screening that we were just discussing? 10 THE WITNESS: It will remove some of the 11 trees. A lot of the ones on Prospect Avenue have 12 already been removed. And that was at the direction of 13 the previous Forester, Ron Carr, who approached PSE&G 14 directly because they were posing a hazard. Limbs were 15 falling on the road. That was taken under advisement. 16 Those trees have been removed, so the safety hazard has 17 been taken care of. A lot of those trees on that 18 frontage have already been removed. We're not 19 proposing on removing many more. The only reason would 20 be, again, for the health of the trees only, not for 21 the tree replacement. 22 As you go on to Mount Pleasant we are 23 proposing, we're moving trees around the entry area for 24 the realignment of the road and the bioretention basins 25 and the fence installation. So there's a lot of work Page 15 1 one moment. Ms. Parlavecchio, do you have a Court 2 Reporter tonight? I didn't see the Court Reporter from 3 the last meeting on the screen. 4 MS. PARLAVECCHIO: I believe it is Iris. 5 THE COURT REPORTER: Yes, it is, Mr. 6 Chairman. Iris LaRosa. 7 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you. Mr. Warner, 8 would you administer the oath to Ms. LaRosa? 9 (Whereupon, Mr. Warner administers the oath 10 to the Court Reporter.) 11 I R I S L a R O S A, the Certified 12 Shorthand Reporter is duly sworn. 13 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you, both. Back to 14 you, Mr. Scott. 15 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Thank you. Mr. Futey, 16 you mentioned that some of the trees were being taken 17 up in order to accommodate a new road or -- 18 THE WITNESS: Road alignment. The 19 realignment of the entry off of Mount Pleasant. 20 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: And in order to do 21 that you will be taking down more trees? 22 THE WITNESS: Well, the ones that are 23 accounted for at the -- closest to the corner of Mount 24 Pleasant and Prospect. And again, there's bioretention 25 basins there's, there's the road

e trees? 22 THE WITNESS: Well, the ones that are 23 accounted for at the -- closest to the corner of Mount 24 Pleasant and Prospect. And again, there's bioretention 25 basins there's, there's the road realignment, and Page 14 1 that's happening there. Trying to save anything there 2 I think would be detrimental to any of the trees there 3 and probably shorten their life, so we're going back 4 with new plants that can then establish in that 5 location, and they're mostly evergreen trees. 6 And that's one of the other things with the 7 new plan that we're going back with. We're being much 8 more intentional about the planting and the screening. 9 We are proposing a number of evergreen tree species 10 which do not exist on the site now. Right now, and I'm 11 sure as you saw when you visited the site, it's 12 primarily deciduous trees from the fence line all the 13 way back to the station. So in the wintertime, for 14 example, deciduous trees lose their leaves. The view 15 into that station you have the branches and everything 16 but you can see all the way through. What our plan 17 does is actually we have a zone more or less in the 18 middle of our planting along Prospect Avenue in 19 particular with those evergreen species. So we'll 20 maintain the I'll call it the visual capacity that you 21 get from what's there today with the deciduous trees 22 but we're going to have an actual evergreen barrier 23 behind that now. Now that we can be a lot more 24 intentional with what we're going back with. 25 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Scott, excuse me just Page 16 1 there's also the replacement of the fence that's 2 happening there. So there's a lot of work that's 3 happening there, construction access, for example. So 4 most of those trees in that zone in particular are 5 coming down. 6 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: And about how many 7 trees will that be? 8 THE WITNESS: I have in that exact location 9 probably nine trees. 10 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: And those are healthy 11 trees? 12 THE WITNESS: Those are viable trees per 13 the ordinance, yes. 14 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: And do you know how 15 old those trees are? 16 THE WITNESS: I would estimate again we're 17 talking in the 40- to 50-year area. 18 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: So to replace them 19 would take literally the life-span of pretty much all 20 of us here? 21 THE WITNESS: Yes, 40 -- for us a little 22 bit longer, but yes. 23 BOARD MEMBER