9 19 24 West Orange BOA ZB 24 06 PSEG Condensed

cbd6abed-8cda-4dba-9ebd-560688bcfcb2 5 (Pages 17 to 20) Page 17 1 save those trees? 2 THE WITNESS: That's really outside my 3 purview. That's really more of an engineering 4 decision. 5 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: That's an engineering 6 decision? 7 THE WITNESS: Correct. 8 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Very well. Thank you. 9 How tall are the existing trees that you plan to cut 10 down that are located along Prospect and Mount Pleasant 11 Avenue? 12 THE WITNESS: Again, we're talking about 13 before -- I'd say 50 feet on average. Fifty, 60 feet 14 probably. 15 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: And how many years 16 would it take for the new trees to provide screening 17 equal to the existing trees? 18 THE WITNESS: Well, that's I guess a little 19 bit of an interesting question. Because we have the 20 evergreen trees going in I would expect a pretty decent 21 screen with those within probably ten years they'll be 22 reaching an appreciable height. So you'll have that 23 visual barrier from the roadway looking into the 24 station. And they'll grow together as well, which is 25 the intent. We plant them so that the foliage Page 19 1 so. 2 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: And of those projects 3 did they require cutting down trees 40 feet or more in 4 diameter? 5 THE WITNESS: I'm sorry. Can you repeat 6 that? The audio cut out a little bit. 7 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: I'm sorry. Of those 8 times when you designed projects for PSE&G did it 9 require cutting down trees of 40 inches in diameter? 10 THE WITNESS: I don't know about 40 inches 11 but we've had some mature trees that we've had to take 12 down, sure. 13 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: So they will be 14 smaller than 40? 15 THE WITNESS: Right. In the upwards of, 16 though. I mean, we've had I'd say trees of a similar 17 age span in some of those projects. 18 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Okay. Was it because 19 they were the communities that know, or what reason -- 20 if you had trees were there trees that were of that 21 size but you didn't take down? 22 THE WITNESS: Only if it was outside the 23 scope of the work, the limit of disturbance. We're 24 very conservative when we analyze these sites, so we're 25 not going to go out and indiscriminately recommend Page 18 1 essentially touches, so you'll get that wall of green. 2 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: And in ten years about 3 approximately how many feet would that be? 4 THE WITNESS: Depends on the species, but I 5 would say you're

lly touches, so you'll get that wall of green. 2 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: And in ten years about 3 approximately how many feet would that be? 4 THE WITNESS: Depends on the species, but I 5 would say you're getting a good 10 feet worth of 6 growth. 7 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: And presently they're 8 15 feet you were saying; is that right? 9 THE WITNESS: Fifty. The existing, but 10 they're about 50 feet but they're also deciduous trees. 11 So again, deciduous as you know, foliage that's on the 12 trees it provides pretty excellent screening. However, 13 in the colder seasons, in the winter, dropping of 14 leaves. And as you can see on the site you can see all 15 the way through to the station. 16 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Has it ever been a 17 problem with that with the trees being bare in the fall 18 months? 19 THE WITNESS: No. I'm just saying in terms 20 of a visual looking into the site. 21 BOARD MEMBER SCOTT: Mr. Futey, have you 22 designed landscaping for PSE&G in the past, and if so 23 how many times? 24 THE WITNESS: I have. I mean, in terms of 25 the stations I'm involved in I would estimate seven or Page 20 1 trees come down. But if we do see the nature of the 2 work, the proposed plan based on engineering 3 requirements that as I mentioned if there's an 4 improvement, there's grading in relation to that 5 improvement that might detrimentally impact the health 6 of that tree within a short span or even a long span we 7 will recommend that it does get taken down. 8 We also should mention that as part of our 9 process, our design process we work hand-in-hand with 10 PSE&G vegetation management within their internal team. 11 They are beholden to additional authorities that have 12 jurisdiction over these sites. So there are Federal 13 requirements, there are state of New Jersey Board of 14 Public Utility requirements that effectively -- it's 15 based on industry standards. There's an ANSI standard, 16 ANSI standing for the American National Standards 17 Institute. They follow that in terms of the evaluation 18 of trees. Basically anything that's proposed by us or 19 anything that's existing on-site they look at that 20 tree, they look at the species. They look at the 21 proposed, or I should say the habit of the tree, the 22 life-span of the tree, its proximity to their 23 equipment, and based on that it also impacts what can 24 and cannot exist around that equipment. 25

osed, or I should say the habit of the tree, the 22 life-span of the tree, its proximity to their 23 equipment, and based on that it also impacts what can 24 and cannot exist around that equipment. 25 Obviously, reliability is of utmost