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

Page 41 1 received from Mr. Kipp, which I believe was in 2 August, and the second report which we were just 3 discussing on September 6th, what did PSE&G do -- 4 CHAIRMAN NEUER: At one point you said 5 September 9th, was it the 6th or the 9th? 6 MS. PORTER: I'm sorry, September 6th, 7 9/6/24. 8 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you. Please repeat 9 the question, I don't think the witness remembered. 10 MR. FUTEY: Yeah, I'm sorry, I didn't 11 hear the question. 12 MS. PORTER: Oh, sure. So, in between Mr. 13 Kipp's initial review and his second review letter 14 that was issued on September 6th, what, if any 15 changes were made specific to the tree removal or 16 tree replacement plan? Were any additional trees 17 preserved in that time period? 18 MR. FUTEY: Not in that time period, no, 19 we did previous to that. The application was 20 submitted back in May under the old tree ordinance. 21 MS. PORTER: Okay. 22 MR. FUTEY: After that time and with the 23 new tree ordinance that was adopted in June, we did 24 go back at that point in time and we did reevaluate 25 the trees and we did save effectively 17 trees from

Page 42 1 that first application to the second application. 2 MS. PORTER: So, you had gone back prior 3 the site visits at a point in time and reevaluated 4 whether any of the trees onsite could be saved and 5 had saved 17 additional trees, is that correct? 6 MR. FUTEY: That is correct, yes. 7 MS. PORTER: And this is reflected in the 8 most current plan which is up on the screen? 9 MR. FUTEY: Correct, it is. 10 MS. PORTER: Thank you. I have no further 11 questions. 12 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you. Let's take 13 the exhibit down, please. We may have to put it back 14 up. Mr. Hess, any questions for the witness? 15 MR. HESS: I have no questions, Mr. 16 Chairman. 17 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Williams? 18 MR. WILLIAMS: Mr. Chairman, likewise, I 19 have no questions for this witness. Just to -- 20 actually I do. One quick one, just to reconfirm, the 21 number of trees we saved based on the reevaluation is 22 17? 23 MR. FUTEY: No, the number of trees being 24 saved is, I believe is 137 total -- 150. We have to 25 go back, we did go back, I had the number right at my

Page 43 1 fingertips, it's more than 17, the 17 was the delta, 2 that was the difference between the two. So there 3 was an additional 17. 4 MR. WILLIAMS: That's how I should have 5 phrased it, thank you. 6 CHAIRMAN NEUER: What's the total number 7 of trees being saved now with that 17? 8 MR. FUTEY: Total number with that 17 9 included, I have, well, the removal is going to be 10 150 tress, 14 of those were considered nonviable. 11 CHAIRMAN NEUER: I'm sorry, 150 are being 12 removed? 13 MR. FUTEY: Correct. 388 are being 14 preserved. 15 CHAIRMAN NEUER: 188 preserved? 16 MR. FUTEY: 338. 17 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Members of the board time 18 for questioning, let's go the other way, Mr. Sussman? 19 MR. SUSSMAN: No questions, Mr. 20 Chairman. 21 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you. Mr. Scott? 22 MR. SCOTT: Thank you. Mr. Futey, thank 23 you for going back and reevaluating. Can you tell us 24 a little bit about the 17 additional trees that you 25 were able to save and to include in that which would

Page 44 1 not be cut down, where are they, are they in one 2 particular spot, are they all over, can you tell us, 3 and how large are they? 4 MR. FUTEY: They're primarily along the 5 fence line and it was in reevaluating the alignment 6 of the fence, and we even discussed this at our site 7 meeting as well. The nature of where the fence is 8 located and how we might be able to shift it even 9 slightly to accommodate those trees. Like I said, 10 they're primarily along Prospect Avenue, they're not 11 the largest of the trees on the site, they're in the 12 medium range. 13 MR. SCOTT: And just another question on 14 the landscaping and the need to do some shifting on 15 the road. The civil engineer testified that he 16 couldn't say exactly what size vehicles would be 17 needed to bring it in, so how can you decide, how can 18 it be decided how much roadway you need to cut away 19 to increase, what it that -- how is that -- what is 20 that based on if you don't know exactly what size 21 transport vehicle is required? 22 MR. FUTEY: I can't really comment on the 23 civil engineering. 24 MS. PORTER: For the record, the road 25 alignment is consistent with normal roadway width

Page 45 1 standards. The testimony he was providing and Mr. 2 Blake can clarify it for the record if needed, was 3 that part of the, the road is being realigned in 4 order to provide access to the new equipment that is 5 being serviced, but in addition to that, during 6 construction because vehicles were bringing in heavy 7 equipment to perform the replacement, that that too 8 would need adequate turning distances and thus the 9 realignment was aiding in that respect. So, it's not 10 driving the realignment, but it's an added benefit, 11 that was the point of that testimony. 12 MR. SCOTT: I understand, thank you for 13 that clarification. Again, I want to thank you for 14 going back and adding that up doing what you could do 15 make this more nature positive. Thank you. 16 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you, Mr. Scott. 17 Mr. Ricci? 18 MR. RICCI: No questions, Mr. Chairman. 19 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you. Mr. Eben? 20 MR. EBEN: None. 21 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you, Mr. Eben. Mr. 22 Dannemiller? 23 MR. DANNEMILLER: No questions. 24 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you, Mr. Barbee? 25 MR. BARBEE: No questions.

Page 46 1 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Futey, you testified 2 to three specific trees, 2078, 4102, and 4135, those 3 were the only trees -- withdrawn. 4 Are those trees the ones that are being saved? 5 MR. FUTEY: No, those are being removed. 6 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Those are being removed, 7 and you explained why you needed to remove them and 8 that was all based on your meeting on the site on 9 September 30? 10 MR. FUTEY: That's correct, yes. Those 11 were some of the discussions that we had and the 12 conclusions that we had come to. 13 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Okay, I have no further 14 questions. Members of the public, this is your 15 opportunity to question the witness based upon the 16 testimony he has presented this evening. Kindly 17 raise your hands so you can be recognized. Mr. 18 Malanga, you are recognized. 19 MR. MALANGA: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 20 Mr. Futey, good evening. 21 MR. FUTEY: Good evening. 22 MR. MALANGA: Of the trees on the site 23 that are greater than 50 inches in diameter, how many 24 are being preserved? 25 MR. FUTEY: I'm not actually sure that

Page 47 1 any are being preserved over 50 because they're all 2 located within that electrified portion of the site 3 down towards the southeast corner. 4 MR. MALANGA: So, how many trees of 5 that size are being cut down? 6 MR. FUTEY: 55, I don't have that number 7 broken out specifically. I can tell you that of, if 8 we base it on the ordinance, the ordinance allows 9 removal of trees over 33 inches EBH, and we have 17 10 of those trees total. 11 MR. MALANGA: So, you are removing 17 12 trees greater than? 13 MR. FUTEY: 33 inches, which is a 14 threshold given in the township ordinance. 15 MR. MALANGA: Are you able to state 16 whether all the trees greater than 50 inches are 17 being removed from the site? 18 MR. FUTEY: I would have to double check 19 that to definitively say that. 20 MR. MALANGA: Are you able to say 21 whether all the trees greater than 40 inches in 22 diameter are being removed? 23 MR. FUTEY: Again, I would have to 24 double, I don't have those numbers broken out 25 specifically like that. Like I said, the 33 inches

Page 48 1 is the number given in the ordinance itself and it's 2 given in the table that allows for their replacement. 3 MR. MALANGA: So, there are in fact 4 trees greater than 40 inches diameter breast height 5 being removed, is that right? 6 MR. FUTEY: That's correct, I discussed a 7 couple of those tonight. 8 MR. MALANGA: Okay, I have no other 9 questions, thank you. 10 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you, Mr. Malanga. 11 Other members of the public with questions, please 12 raise your hand so that you can be recognized. 13 MR. FAGAN: Mr. Chairperson, there 14 currently are no hands raised from any member of the 15 public. 16 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Going once, going twice, 17 any members of the public please raise your hand now 18 so that you can be recognized. 19 MR. FAGAN: No hands are raised -- oh, 20 I'm sorry, one just came up. Ms. Whitmer, welcome 21 back to the meeting, please state your name and 22 address for the record. 23 MS. WHITMER: Thank you. Amy Whitmer, 24 13 Franklin Avenue. 25 I'm just wondering about all the trees

Page 49 1 that are very near the fence. I mean, I'm not 2 hearing why so many other trees need to be removed. 3 I understand those large trees that could fall over 4 and damage the facilities, I understand why those 5 should be removed, but why so many other trees? 6 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Respectfully, those, 7 that's not part of tonight's testimony, that was part 8 of the witness's testimony in prior meetings. 9 MS. WHITMER: Oh, I'm sorry. 10 CHAIRMAN NEUER: No, that's okay. If you 11 could understand that, I'll direct the witness to 12 answer the question, but let's limit your 13 questioning, if you have any others, to what was 14 presented this evening. 15 MS. WHITMER: Okay. 16 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Mr. Futey, are you able 17 to answer the question? 18 MR. FUTEY: Yes, I mean, most of the 19 trees actually along with the fence line especially 20 along Prospect Avenue, they were already previously 21 removed because they were considered a hazard. The 22 previous forester reached out to PSE&G with that 23 concern. So they were removed because they were 24 dropping limbs and they were primarily ash trees 25 which are being affected by a number of ash --

Page 50 1 actually kind of rampant on the site right now with 2 the existing trees. So, most of those have already 3 been removed, and there is really not many more 4 slated for removal along the fence line. Where there 5 is a cluster, it is down by the entrance on Mount 6 Pleasant Avenue, they are slated for removal not 7 really because of the fence as much as the 8 bioretention basin that's going there because the 9 grading there, when we're grading down, we are gonna 10 be cutting out the root stock of those trees and the 11 viability of those, it's just, the long term health, 12 it's a risk, it's a safety hazard. 13 MS. WHITMER: Right, okay, thank you 14 very much. 15 CHAIRMAN NEUER: Thank you. Mr. Fagan, 16 any other hands up now? 17 MR. FAGAN: Mr. Chairperson, there are no 18 other hands raised. Oh, I'm sorry, one just came up. 19 Andy Macleod, welcome to the meeting, please state 20 your name and address for the record. 21 MR. MACLEOD: Hi, my name is Andrew 22 Macleod, 19 Fundus Road. 23 MR. FAGAN: Please continue. 24 MR. MACLEOD: Thank you so much, just a 25 quick question, a clarification really, apologies if