9 19 24 West Orange BOA ZB 24 06 PSEG Condensed

cbd6abed-8cda-4dba-9ebd-560688bcfcb2 17 (Pages 65 to 68) Page 65 1 THE WITNESS: No. We have a mix of trees, 2 and actually if I can share my screen I can show you 3 will plant list. 4 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Please do. 5 MR. FAGAN: I have to remove the clock, Mr. 6 Chairperson. 7 CHAIRMAN NEUER: That's okay. You can put 8 it back up after we're finished with the shared screen. 9 THE WITNESS: Here's the evergreen with 10 plant material up here. So we have a Holly, we have an 11 Eastern Redcedar, Norway Spruces, Black Hills Spruce, 12 we have Serbian Spruce, and Eastern White Pine. And 13 the idea is to get a mix of species. We don't want 14 them monoculture. We're not trying to put an absolute 15 wall of one species because that's not a good idea. If 16 an event comes it wipes them all out. So we're trying 17 to get some visual interest and we're also trying to 18 think of the future health of the site. 19 MS. RUDIN: Okay. I appreciate that. I do 20 not think -- 21 CHAIRMAN NEUER: You can take your screen 22 down, Mr. Futey. 23 MS. RUDIN: Just one last question. I do 24 appreciate that you are considering native trees, but 25 our Ordinance also requires organic non-pesticide Page 67 1 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you. 2 MR. FAGAN: Mr. Chairperson, there are no 3 other hands raised. 4 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you. Then the 5 questioning is closed. Ms. Parlavecchio, do you have 6 any redirect? 7 MS. PARLAVECCHIO: No. 8 CHAIRMAN NEUER: It's 9:22. So rather than 9 interrupt a witness let's take our break now. We'll 10 make it eight minutes. Everybody please come back at 11 9:30. We are in a brief recess. Everybody turn off 12 your cameras and microphones. 13 (Whereupon, a recess is taken at 9:23 p.m.) 14 CHAIRMAN NEUER: As the regular crowd 15 shuffles back in. It is 9:30. I'm waiting for the 16 rest of the Board to come back on for a quorum. So far 17 it's Mr. Dannemiller and me. 18 Ms. Parlavecchio, will you be continuing 19 or is Ms. Porter coming back on? 20 MS. PARLAVECCHIO: No. Jen just signed on 21 so I will turn off my video and I will go on mute. 22 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Oh, there's Ms. Porter. 23 Welcome back. Thank you, Ms. Parlavecchio, for filling 24 in. 25 MS. PARLAVECCHIO: You're welcome. Thank Page 66 1 trees. Will the trees that you will be putting in meet 2 the requirement of both the size that they are native 3 and that they are organic and non-pesticide? 4 THE

HIO: You're welcome. Thank Page 66 1 trees. Will the trees that you will be putting in meet 2 the requirement of both the size that they are native 3 and that they are organic and non-pesticide? 4 THE WITNESS: We can put that into our 5 planting notes, but this is going to be nursery stock. 6 There's nothing exotic that we're proposing. And 7 they're mostly native. There are a few that are 8 introduced, but introduced species could be hanging 9 around for 200 years. And again, we have the 10 confirmation of those species from actually the Board 11 Engineers and also from Mr. Kipp as well in his letter. 12 MS. RUDIN: Can you guarantee us that they 13 will be organic and non-pesticide according to the 14 Ordinance? 15 THE WITNESS: I think we will meet that, 16 yes. 17 MS. RUDIN: Terrific. Okay. Thank you so 18 much. 19 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Fagan, any other hands 20 coming up? 21 MR. FAGAN: Mr. Chairperson, there are no 22 other hands raised. If any member of the public would 23 care to ask questions at this time this is your last 24 call. Otherwise Mr. Chairman, we'll close public 25 comment. Page 68 1 you, Mr. Chairperson. And Jen, you're still on mute. 2 MS. PORTER: Good evening, Mr. Chairman. 3 Thank you. 4 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Okay. It's 9:32 and the 5 record will reflect that the four Board members who 6 comprise our quorum are all present on the screen. Mr. 7 Warner, may we proceed? You need to put your 8 microphone on, though. 9 MR. WARNER: Absolutely, Mr. Chairman. 10 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Okay. Thank you. Ms. 11 Porter? 12 MS. PORTER: Yes. 13 CHAIRMAN NEUER: The floor is yours. 14 MS. PORTER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We 15 would next like to call Ms. Merainer who will be 16 testifying as our professional planner. She is also a 17 very long employee of PSE&G but will be speaking in her 18 capacity and with respect to her credentials as a 19 professional planner. If she could please state her 20 name and address for the record to be sworn? 21 MS. MERAINER: My name is Noreen Merainer, 22 N-o-r-e-e-n, last name Merainer, M-e-r-a-i-n-e-r. 23 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Warner, your 24 microphone. 25 MR. WARNER: Do you swear to God or affirm

cbd6abed-8cda-4dba-9ebd-560688bcfcb2 18 (Pages 69 to 72) Page 69 1 that the testimony you're about to give is the truth, 2 the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? 3 MS. MERAINER: Absolutely. 4 MR. WARNER: Thank you. Back to you, Mr. 5 Chairman. 6 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you, Mr. Warner. 7 Ms. Porter, witness with you. 8 MR. PORTER: Great. Thank you. 9 N O R E E N M E R A I N E R, having been 10 duly sworn, testifies as follows: 11 EXAMINATION BY MS. PORTER: 12 Q. Ms. Merainer, if you could please state 13 where you are employed? 14 A. I'm a Licensed Professional Planner in the 15 state of New Jersey. Here is my license. I'm employed 16 by Public Service Electric and Gas Company. The 17 address of the company is 4000 Hadley Road, South 18 Plainfield, New Jersey 07080. My title is licensing 19 project manager and I'm responsible for environmental 20 and land use planning and permitting for company 21 facilities. I've been employed by PSE&G for 26 years. 22 Prior to employment with PSE&G I was employed as an 23 environmental planner with an environmental engineering 24 and consulting firm. And for seven of those ten years 25 I consulted directly for PSE&G. Page 71 1 Authority, Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission, and 2 also NJDEP. I last testified, and this was only this 3 year, in front of the Board of Adjustment of the 4 Township of Teaneck, the Board of Adjustment for the 5 City of Clifton, and Planning Board for the City of 6 Bayonne. 7 MS. PORTER: Thank you. At this point, I 8 would request that the Board designate Ms. Merainer as 9 an expert in the field of professional planning. 10 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Any members of the Board 11 with questions as to credentials? Seeing none, Ms. 12 Merainer, it's a pleasure to welcome you as an expert 13 professional planner. Ms. Porter, please continue. 14 MS. PORTER: Great. Thank you. 15 Q. Ms. Merainer, if you could begin by stating 16 your specific role with respect to this application? 17 CHAIRMAN NEUER: I think she may be frozen. 18 MS. PORTER: Yeah. 19 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Oh, she moved. 20 THE WITNESS: I apologize. I'm sitting in 21 our offices and this is the kind of Internet we get. 22 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Welcome to the club. 23 THE WITNESS: I blame Optimum. I'm sorry. 24 I Unfortunately missed the last minute. 25 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Please restate your Page 70 1 Q. Thank you. And how long have you been a 2 licensed planner

b. 23 THE WITNESS: I blame Optimum. I'm sorry. 24 I Unfortunately missed the last minute. 25 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Please restate your Page 70 1 Q. Thank you. And how long have you been a 2 licensed planner in the state of New Jersey? 3 A. Since the '90s. 4 Q. And you previously mentioned your license 5 is current. If you could just for the record just 6 state your educational and professional background? 7 A. Certainly. I have a Bachelor's from Clarke 8 University. A Master's Marine Affairs from University 9 of Rhode Island, which is actually resource management. 10 I also have an MBA from Excelsior College, and I have 11 certification as a Project Management Professional. 12 Q. Thank you. And what specifically has been 13 your role in connection with this application? 14 CHAIRMAN NEUER: I'm sorry, Ms. Porter, 15 those are credentials, right? 16 MS. PORTER: Yes. I was going to ask if 17 she has ever testified before a Board as well for one 18 last question. 19 CHAIRMAN NEUER: You can do that. 20 MS. PORTER: Great. 21 Q. Ms. Merainer, have you ever testified 22 previously before a Board? 23 A. I have. I have testified in front of 24 dozens of Boards. I've also testified before state 25 agencies such as the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Page 72 1 question, Ms. Porter. 2 MS. PORTER: Yes. 3 Q. Ms. Merainer, what has your role been with 4 respect to this application? 5 A. I was responsible for supervising the 6 preparation of the Land Use application. I will also 7 be responsible for all the environmental and land use 8 permits, that includes county planning, 9 Hudson/Essex/Passaic Soil Conservation District, NJDOT, 10 Municipal permits, as well as this site plan. 11 Q. So in connection with your role regarding 12 the preparation of the application you are fully 13 familiar with the application of PSE&G that's in front 14 of the Board this evening? 15 A. I am. 16 Q. And are you familiar with the Township of 17 West Orange Development Regulations Ordinance and 18 Master Plan? 19 A. I am. 20 Q. Great. Thank you. If you could begin by 21 talking about specifically the existing zoning as it 22 relates to this specific site? 23 A. As you know, the facility is located at 325 24 Mount Pleasant Avenue. It's at the corner of Mount 25 Pleasant Avenue and Prospect Avenue. It's in the

cbd6abed-8cda-4dba-9ebd-560688bcfcb2 19 (Pages 73 to 76) Page 73 1 Office Research Zone. This is for the main substation. 2 We have a transmission line that veers off from the 3 station, and this is towards the northwest, that is not 4 part of this application but it is on the property. 5 That zone is the Planned Unit Residential Development 6 or PURD and R-5 Single-Family Residential. 7 I'll explain what land uses are near us. 8 To the north is offices or rather are offices and 9 retail businesses. Mount Pleasant Avenue and golf 10 course is to the south. To the east is Prospect Avenue 11 and commercial businesses. Also included are some 12 residential homes, medical offices, and a cellular 13 facility. There's also a radio tower that broadcasts 14 hip hop music. And finally to the west are office and 15 medical. 16 Q. Thank you, Ms. Merainer. If you could now 17 move in to describing the nature of the relief that's 18 being sought from this Board? 19 A. We are asking for some submission items and 20 waiver items. These were mentioned in Mr. John Hess' 21 comment letter. If you'd like I'm happy to go through 22 them or I'll go right to the meat of what we're asking 23 for. 24 MS. PORTER: Does the Board care to have 25 Ms. Merainer go through the submission waivers, or Page 75 1 go to NJDOT for a Minor Access Permit. 2 A third permit is Hudson/Essex/Passaic Soil 3 Conservation District. 4 A fourth one would be Essex County Planning 5 Board because we front on Prospect Avenue which is a 6 county road. We're here tonight for municipal site 7 plan and I will also seek construction permits. 8 The other submission item is for site 9 triangles. This will be from our reconfigured entrance 10 on Mount Pleasant Avenue, and those will be included on 11 the NJDOT application that we will be submitting. 12 Finally, a submission of -- 13 CHAIRMAN NEUER: I'm sorry. With respect 14 to the site triangles is there a reason it would not be 15 on the site plan drawings submitted to this Board? 16 THE WITNESS: We have not yet submitted an 17 application to NJDOT. When that is done we will 18 upgrade these plans accordingly. 19 CHAIRMAN NEUER: The reason you can't do 20 site triangles now? Unless you want a delay on your 21 approvals. 22 THE WITNESS: Understood. That's why we're 23 asking for a waiver, because this will be included in 24 the NJDOT application. And I will provide

es now? Unless you want a delay on your 21 approvals. 22 THE WITNESS: Understood. That's why we're 23 asking for a waiver, because this will be included in 24 the NJDOT application. And I will provide some 25 testimony in a few minutes regarding the traffic that Page 74 1 simply discuss the specific variance relief that's 2 being sought from this Board? 3 CHAIRMAN NEUER: To have a complete record 4 we need to go through the waivers. 5 MS. PORTER: That's fine. 6 THE WITNESS: The submission items. The 7 first is that we have signature blocks for Board 8 members and professionals. That is on our site plan. 9 However, I admit it's confusing because we have the 10 survey before the site plan, but the site plan does 11 have the signature blocks. That is item number eight. 12 Item number 20, the request was that all 13 property information be on the survey. It is. Also, I 14 included the Deed from the property from 1928. 15 Item number 24, we were asked what are the 16 required permits for this application. 17 CHAIRMAN NEUER: I'm sorry. You mean 18 number 23. 19 THE WITNESS: Yes. Excuse me. The other 20 permits I need, NJDEP, water, Bureau of Water 21 Allocation. That is for construction dewatering. A 22 second permit would be NJDOT Minor Access Permit. That 23 is because as Mike Blake explained we will be 24 reconfiguring our entrance onto Mount Pleasant Avenue. 25 You all know that's state Highway 10, therefore I must Page 76 1 we have at this station. 2 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Hess, do you have any 3 issues on A, B, C, and D that were just testified to? 4 MR. HESS: One thing I'd like to note is 5 regarding the signature block is that should also be on 6 the Burns McDonnell plans because those are part of 7 this application and they show some of the improvements 8 that are proposed. 9 THE WITNESS: If I might ask for 10 clarification, would you want them on every drawing? 11 MR. HESS: No. The cover sheet. 12 CHAIRMAN NEUER: The cover sheet. 13 THE WITNESS: Okay. 14 CHAIRMAN NEUER: That's what gets signed. 15 And let me just remind you, that if there's an 16 approval, because that's the only way it gets signed, 17 before I sign any plan all of the conditions have to be 18 printed on the cover of the final sheets. 19 THE WITNESS: Thank you for that. I 20 appreciate it. Finally, we had asked for a waiver from 21 submitting an Environmental Impact Statement, but 22

be 18 printed on the cover of the final sheets. 19 THE WITNESS: Thank you for that. I 20 appreciate it. Finally, we had asked for a waiver from 21 submitting an Environmental Impact Statement, but 22 subsequently, I did provide environmental information 23 before last -- 10 days before the last meeting, last 24 Thursday. I don't know if a submission waiver is still 25 needed for that since we did provide information.

cbd6abed-8cda-4dba-9ebd-560688bcfcb2 20 (Pages 77 to 80) Page 77 1 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Well, it's not just 2 information. You consulted with the planner as I 3 instructed, and you and he or somebody from your office 4 and Mr. Williams' office? 5 THE WITNESS: No, it was me. 6 CHAIRMAN NEUER: And Mr. Williams wasn't 7 present, I think it was Mr. DeLine, agreed on the 8 contents of an Environmental Impact Statement, which is 9 what was submitted to us from your office. 10 THE WITNESS: From me. 11 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Okay. And that's the 12 document dated August 29, 2024. So we consider that to 13 be an Environmental Impact Statement; correct Mr. 14 Wells? 15 MR. WILLIAMS: That is correct, Mr. 16 Chairman. 17 CHAIRMAN NEUER: 18 THE WITNESS: If you'll excuse me for a 19 moment. I have to stand up so the lights in the office 20 go back on. We also are asking for some waiver items. 21 We are asking for a waiver from item number 12, that is 22 regarding standard sheet size. We gave you slightly 23 larger engineering drawings because we understand that 24 this is a complicated project with a lot of details. 25 For item number 31 you wished for contours Page 79 1 THE WITNESS: Now to the meat of my 2 testimony. We are asking for three major variances. 3 First, we're asking for a D-2 Variance. This is a use 4 variance for an expansion of a pre-existing legal 5 nonconforming use. We're asking this in accordance 6 with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d)(2). That is because public 7 utilities are not permitted by right or conditional use 8 in the OR Zone. Therefore, we are requesting relief 9 for expansion of public utility use. 10 The second variance we're asking for is a 11 D-6 Variance. This is a height variance for height of 12 lightning mast of 70 feet high when 35 feet is 13 permitted. This was already explained by Michael Blake 14 and John Copa as to what was needed for lightning mast. 15 I should also explain that we do have 16 various other equipment such as bus supports and 17 lightning finials that are over 35 feet, therefore, we 18 need a variance. We're proposing six new lightning 19 masts at 70 feet and therefore I need a height variance 20 because the principal structure exceeds the maximum 21 permitted height in the district by more than 10 feet 22 or 10 percent. However, it should be noted by this 23 Board that PSE&G has repeatedly come back every time we 24 are doing station

e maximum 21 permitted height in the district by more than 10 feet 22 or 10 percent. However, it should be noted by this 23 Board that PSE&G has repeatedly come back every time we 24 are doing station improvements. I was able to find 25 records going back to 1988, these are digital records, Page 78 1 200 feet beyond the property. It should be recognized 2 that we do border two roadways. 3 For Item number 46 we asked for a waiver 4 for not providing solid waste management. That is 5 because the 26kV yard is not manned. Technicians take 6 trash with them and go back to our electric division 7 headquarters. We also asked for a waiver regarding 8 vehicular and pedestrian circulation patterns. That is 9 because we are not changing our patterns and the public 10 is not permitted inside. This is solely for PSE&G 11 employees and contractors. 12 And finally, the last item was item was 13 Item number 50 for a parking plan. Again, that is 14 because the station is unmanned and we already have 15 sufficient parking on-site. 16 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Hess, based on the 17 testimony what is your position with respect to the 18 waiver request set forth in B-2 of your report? 19 MR. HESS: I have no objection to the 20 request. 21 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Then let the record 22 reflect that the waivers are granted. 23 THE WITNESS: Thank you. I'm sorry to take 24 the time to go through it but it is necessary. 25 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Please continue. Page 80 1 that we have been before this Board many times. And 2 every time it is for expansion of a nonconforming use, 3 the public utility. Also, for a structure taller than 4 35 feet. And we've often come before this Board for 5 fence height variances and setback requirements. 6 I should mention that in terms of height we 7 do have 14 existing 70-foot high lightning mast. We 8 have an H frame. It's shaped like an H, hence why we 9 call it an H frame. And that's 73.5 feet. And we have 10 a radio microwave tower that is 188 feet. That was 11 installed to support our 862 megahertz system which is 12 what we used to contact our crews via radio. I 13 personally was part of that application and was as a 14 young planner without a license at the hearing for that 15 in 1992. 16 So now I'll go through some of the bulk 17 variances -- 18 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Oh, you have to stand up 19 again because you're frozen. Maybe I won't pay my 20 PSE&G bill this

ring for that 15 in 1992. 16 So now I'll go through some of the bulk 17 variances -- 18 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Oh, you have to stand up 19 again because you're frozen. Maybe I won't pay my 20 PSE&G bill this month. I'll get their attention. I 21 think it was only 120 last month. 22 MR. PORTER: Noreen, you are frozen again, 23 until just now. 24 THE WITNESS: I know. I have to keep 25 plugging in the connection.