Transcript 10 17 24 WO BOA ZB 24 06 PSEG Full size

Page 31 1 MR. FAGAN: Whitmer, we're gonna give you 2 another try, you have to unmute yourself, I see your 3 hand raised. Please unmute yourself, I cannot do 4 that. Usually on the top bar of your computer, there 5 is an unmute button, or on the lower end of your 6 screen if you hover your mouse over it, you'll see 7 the mute and you can unmute yourself. Mr. 8 Chairperson, she is still muted unless she can hear 9 us. 10 CHAIRMAN NEUER: You have to unmute 11 yourself. There you go. 12 MR. FAGAN: Welcome to the meting, please 13 state your full name and address for the record. 14 MS. WHITMER: I'm so sorry, I've been 15 trying to get connected. My name is Amy Whitmer, I 16 live on Franklin Avenue in West Orange. 17 CHAIRMAN NEUER: What number on Franklin 18 Avenue? 19 MS. WHITMER: 13 Franklin. 20 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Please ask your 21 questions. 22 MS. WHITMER: I am wondering why the 23 fence can't be repaired separately on it's own, 24 bricks can be shored up and replaced. I know the 25 fence looks bad, but I'm wondering why it's going to

Page 32 1 be painted or parts of it replaced from the outside 2 without affecting the trees and maybe there's more 3 going on that I don't understand, but just wondering 4 about that. 5 MR. BLAKE: The main reason for the fence 6 replacement is to bring it up to the current codes. 7 It's not tall enough. 8 MS. WHITMER: Oh, it's not tall enough. 9 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Do you have any other 10 questions, Ms. Whitmer? 11 MS. WHITMER: No, thank you. 12 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you for your time. 13 Mr. Fagan, any other hands up? 14 MR. FAGAN: Last call, there are no more 15 hands raised, Mr. Chairman, so this will be the last 16 call. That is still the situation, no hands are 17 raised, Mr. Chairperson. 18 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Okay, public questioning 19 is at an end, Ms. Porter, do you have any redirect 20 for your witness? 21 MS. PORTER: I do not. 22 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Please call your next 23 witness. 24 MS. PORTER: Great, thank you. Next I 25 would like to call Mr. John Futey, our landscape

Page 33 1 architect, if he could be resworn. 2 3 JOHN FUTEY, F-U-T-E-Y, having first been duly sworn, 4 testified under his oath as follows: 5 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Futey, you've already 6 been qualified as an expert in the field of landscape 7 architecture. Ms. Porter, please provide your 8 questioning. 9 MS. PORTER: Great, thank you. Mr. Futey, 10 you were previously called and provided expert 11 testimony in the field of landscape architecture for 12 this project on both September 12 and September 19, 13 is that correct? 14 MR. FUTEY: That's correct. 15 MS. PORTER: And as part of that 16 testimony, you specifically walked through the tree 17 removal plan and explained the basis for tree removal 18 as it relates to PSE&G's application, is that 19 correct? 20 MR. FUTEY: Yes, that's correct. 21 MS. PORTER: And the tree removal and tree 22 replacement plans you presented were also submitted 23 to the township forester for review, is that correct? 24 MR. FUTEY: Yes. 25 MS. PORTER: And the forester issued a

Page 34 1 memorandum, actually, a revised memorandum dated 2 September 6 of 2024 which found that everything in 3 the removal and replacement plan was consistent with 4 the new tree ordinance, is that correct? 5 MR. FUTEY: That's correct. 6 MS. PORTER: And have you attended all of 7 the meetings for this application? 8 MR. FUTEY: I have. 9 MS. PORTER: And did you hear the 10 testimony of the other witnesses for PSE&G? 11 MR. FUTEY: Yes, I have. 12 MS. PORTER: And did you hear the 13 questions asked by Mr. Malanga and other members of 14 the public regarding PSE&G's application, and what, 15 if anything, could be done to preserve additional 16 trees at the site? 17 MR. FUTEY: Yes, I have. 18 MS. PORTER: And since the last meeting, 19 have you had any opportunity to address those 20 questions or comments any further? 21 MR. FUTEY: I have, yes. 22 MS. PORTER: And how did you do that? 23 MR. FUTEY: I've been a part of the two 24 site visits the last hearing, the one on September 25 30th and the additional one on October 10.

Page 35 1 MS. PORTER: And with who were those 2 meetings held, so starting first with the meeting on 3 September 30? 4 MR. FUTEY: On September 30, that was the 5 same meeting that Mr. Blake had brought up, I 6 included PSE&G's vegetation management licensed tree 7 expert, project civil engineer, Mr. Blake who we just 8 heard from, project electrical engineer, Mr. Copa, 9 who had testified previously, Division of PSE&G 10 project manager, PSE&G's planner and permitting 11 manager. 12 MS. PORTER: And at the second meeting on 13 October 10, who specifically attended that site 14 meeting? 15 MR. FUTEY: That meeting included the 16 township forester, Mr. Walt Kipp of PSE&G's 17 vegetation management licensed tree expert, PSE&G's 18 project manager, and PSE&G's planning and permitting 19 manager. 20 MS. PORTER: Okay, so, could you please 21 discuss the conversations that specifically took 22 place onsite specifically from your perspective, so 23 meaning that you can't obviously state what other 24 individuals who are not present this evening stated, 25 but specifically from your perspective what you

Page 36 1 discussed and ultimately what conclusions you reached 2 in connection with those site visits. 3 MR. FUTEY: Sure, on the September 30 4 meeting, the project team, we walked the site, we 5 discussed the nature of the improvements, and the 6 impact those improvements will have on the existing 7 trees and the adjustments that can be made, which Mr. 8 Blake had alluded to. The focus was on the large 9 trees close to the project entrance, but also 10 included trees along the fence line. Due to the 11 improvements will primarily have on the existing 12 tree's root systems, it was determined that the 13 current tree removal plan is the most responsible way 14 forward, regrading, trenching, and root coverage are 15 specifically are expected to negatively impact the 16 future viability of the trees, designated for removal 17 with a high risk of those trees becoming a safety 18 hazard both inside the station and into the public 19 right of ways. Proximity to the substation equipment 20 was also a primary concern. Of those, I would like 21 to highlight three of the largest trees on the site, 22 if I can share my screen. 23 MS. PORTER: Certainly. Is that okay, Mr. 24 Chairman? 25 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Please.

Page 37 1 MR. FUTEY: I have the tree removal plan 2 up, this was previously presented. 3 MS. PORTER: If you could please describe 4 it. 5 MR. FUTEY: Yes, it's sheet TR-01, it has 6 a revised date of 8/11/2024. 7 CHAIRMAN NEUER: I'm sorry, what 11? 8 MR. FUTEY: 8, August 11. 9 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Please continue. 10 MR. FUTEY: So, tree 4078, this is the 11 tree that we've discussed previously, it's a 42 inch 12 diameter repressed height Linden tree located central 13 to the front yard of the station, it's within the 14 electrified perimeter of the station, within the 15 access road. This area is expected to function as a 16 staging area with potential for vehicular 17 circulation. The current grade will be filled with 18 gravel to complete the yard ground plane, and is also 19 only about plus or minus 35 feet from adjacent 20 infrastructure. This tree can be expected to get 21 upwards of 50 to 70 feet, so it's well within the 22 potential fall range of that tree. Another tree 23 we're looking at. 24 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Was that number 4076? 25 MR. FUTEY: Correct. No, 4078, I'm

Page 38 1 sorry. 2 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Please continue. 3 MR. FUTEY: So, the second one we were 4 talking about is 4102, this is a 36 inch diameter 5 breast height Linden, also located within the 6 electrified portion of the station. This clearly is 7 located within the post drive internal drive lane and 8 it's only about 32 feet from the proposed equipment, 9 also well within the expected potential fall range of 10 where that might go should there be a problem in the 11 future. 12 A third tree, I would like to highlight, 13 it's 4135, it's that on the corner here on Pleasant 14 Avenue, it's a 46 inch diameter breast height Linden 15 Plain tree. This one is about 24 feet from proposed 16 trenching for underground utilities. Additionally, 17 tree is expected to require pruning to place a 18 concrete manhole structure with a crane. The nature 19 of the pruning would require the removal of some 20 large leaders, some large limbs which would be 21 difficult for the tree to recover from, and in 22 addition to creating an unstable condition of the 23 tree between the trenching and the weight of the tree 24 being unequally distributed, at least to the risk of 25 uprooting and the tree potentially falling

Page 39 1 specifically towards Mount Pleasant Avenue. 2 I could move on to the October 10th 3 meeting. The October 10th meeting also included 4 members of my project team, Mr. Walt Kipp, West 5 Orange's forester, and PSE&G's vegetation licensed 6 tree expert as I mentioned on permitting and planning 7 representative. Mr. Kipp noted that he had walked 8 the perimeter of the site and additionally became 9 familiar with the application. He did reaffirm his 10 review and acceptance of the plan being in compliance 11 with the ordinance. We did discuss moving forward, 12 this is almost like the beginning of the discussion 13 of his presence onsite. As part of his approval, 14 either him or one of his representatives will be 15 reviewing the tree removal tagging prior to also 16 being onsite during tree removal activities. We also 17 discussed, we had the board engineer's comment, 18 previously received review letter regarding the 19 calendar size with the proposed trees amending that 20 from four inches to two and a half inches. Mr. Kipp 21 noted that he didn't have any concerns amending the 22 sizes. 23 Also, update the tree replacement table 24 to compensate the number of trees planted onsite, or 25 contribute to the town's tree fund as previously

Page 40 1 proposed. We will make that change. 2 MS. PORTER: And just to go back to Mr. 3 Kipp's September 9th report that he had provided, 4 that report specifically indicated that he reviewed 5 and found everything presented on both the tree plan 6 which is the plan that you're showing on the screen 7 today, as well as the tree replacement plan were 8 consistent with the tree ordinance, is that correct? 9 MR. FUTEY: That's correct. It included 10 the entire landscape package, the tree removal plan, 11 and also the proposed plan as well. 12 MS. PORTER: Okay. And did he also, as 13 part of that review, review the planting list? 14 MR. FUTEY: Yes. 15 MS. PORTER: And did he find in connection 16 with his review that it was consistent with using 17 native plants and pollinator friendly species? 18 MR. FUTEY: He did. 19 MS. PORTER: And did he note as part of 20 his September 5th review, that everything in his 21 prior review, from his prior report was specifically 22 addressed with the updated plan? 23 MR. FUTEY: Yes, that's correct, he did. 24 MS. PORTER: And now as part of the 25 updated plans in between the first report you