Transcript for Piscataway Planning meeting on July 14 2021
Note: Transcripts are generated by rev.ai and may not be fully accurate. Please listen to the recording (below) if you feel any text is inaccurate.
Speaker 1 00:00:12 Okay. I have no notices from gates and our bone is perfect. Speaker 3 00:00:20 The Piscataway township planning board meeting will please come to order in compliance with the open public meetings act. Adequate. Notice of this was provided in the following ways. Notice published in the courier news notice published in the star ledger notice published on the bulletin board of the municipal building notice made available through the township clerk notice made available for township librarians. Um, Mr. Barlow, would you read our community affairs guidelines? Speaker 2 00:00:55 Certainly Madam chairman in keeping with the department of community affairs guidelines. This meeting is being held virtually via the zoom link. Um, in light of the pandemic. I believe the municipality has complied with all of the DCA requirements and it's appropriate for the meeting to go forward in this virtual setting. Speaker 3 00:01:14 Thank you. Roll call please. Speaker 1 00:01:17 Mayor Waller, present council, woman Cahill here. Ms. Cochran here, Reverend Kenney. Mr. Espinosa, Mr. Foster and Madam chair Speaker 3 00:01:36 Here. Pledge of allegiance. The flag. You can see over my shoulder place. I pledge allegiance and to the Republic and one nation under God, indivisible. Mr. Barlow, would you swear in the professional's place? Speaker 2 00:02:06 We've got leaves on the meeting. Madam chair, because the heat, all the hearings were actually a germ. So I don't think we'll need to swear in Mr. Godly. Speaker 3 00:02:15 Uh, but I think there's one change to the agenda. Speaker 2 00:02:19 Well, Madam chair, the, if anyone's on the meeting for the, uh, Paul Rosalyn matter block eight, 11 lot one oh one, a hundred and forty one forty five eleven street that matters being carried to the August 11th meeting. There will be no further notices for that. If you're here for that matter, it will be heard at the August meeting. Okay. Speaker 1 00:02:43 Excuse me, Mr. Barlow rebel is going on September, September, September, yes. Nine 11 Speaker 2 00:02:50 September 1st. Correct. Speaker 1 00:02:53 That's we're very early in September. Speaker 2 00:02:56 I misspoke September 1st, the Yates matter, which is number 13 on the agenda, which is 1 0, 2, 3 river road block 1, 1 7 0 1 lot 4.1. One is a journey to the August 11th meeting and that matter, they still have to notice Madam chair. Those are the only two changes to the agenda. Okay. Speaker 3 00:03:21 Okay. So noted. Um, I would like to, uh, several matters to be memorialized. I'd like to memorialize the resolution of action taken. I'd like to memorialize the action taken on May 12th, 2021 Cintas corporation, a resolution. Do I have a motion? Thank you. Roll call Speaker 1 00:04:00 Marijuana. Yes. Yes. Ms. Corcoran. Yes. Mervin Kenny, Mr. Espinosa. He's trying to get off. He just text. Uh, Mr. Foster was not here. Madam chair. Yeah, but he wasn't at the last meetings. We Speaker 3 00:04:23 Can't vote. I'm Speaker 1 00:04:25 Sorry. Madam chair. Yes. Thank you. Speaker 3 00:04:29 I don't know. But I'd like to memorialize the residues resolution of action taken on June 9th, 2021, 19 PB 33 90 Hancock road, LLC. Who was that? I didn't join the meeting. Oh, someone joined the meeting. Speaker 1 00:04:56 I'll make that motion. Speaker 3 00:04:57 Thank you second, please. Thank you. Roll call please. Speaker 1 00:05:06 Councilwoman Katie hill. Yes. Ms. Corcoran. Yes. Reverend Kenny and Madam chair, Speaker 3 00:05:16 Item number nine. I like to memorialize the minutes from the regular meeting of June 9th, 2021. Speaker 4 00:05:27 Yeah. Speaker 3 00:05:29 Thank you Reverend Kenny second, please. Speaker 1 00:05:34 Marijuana. Yes. Councilwoman Cahill. Yes. Ms. Corcoran. Yes. Reverend penny and Madam chair. Speaker 3 00:05:45 Yes. Item number 10. We'll have you now have a courtesy review from the board for the board, from the board of education to install rooftop, solar panels on eight buildings. There's someone here. Speaker 1 00:05:59 Are we skipped? I'm sorry. Are we skipping items then there was a rise agenda. Madam chair. Number 10 is an extension of time for Diaz properties. I was sent out today. Speaker 3 00:06:11 Oh, okay. Speaker 2 00:06:13 Matt and Jackie briefly just address it. This is the matter involving, uh, Kevin Morris was the attorney. It was a three loud minor subdivision, uh, 1 35, 1 39 and 1 41 school street. The applicant had written and requested an extension until August 31st, 2021 to perfect the subdivision and file the deeds. Um, the letter of July outlined, um, some extenuating circumstances they had, uh, in terms of perfecting it. Um, it may be a belts and suspenders type of situation because the permanent extension act of 2020 wasn't acted to push back the timeframes. But the applicant out of an abundance of caution has requested that the board, uh, pass a resolution, just allowing them until August 31st, 2021, um, to, uh, perfect the subdivision. Um, and it's a, it's a simple, um, roll call, vote from the board if they wish to just grant that extension. Um, and there was a resolution prepared in anticipation of the board, uh, uh, granting that extension Madam chair. Speaker 3 00:07:32 Okay. I'd like a motion from the board or to grant this extension of time. Speaker 1 00:07:37 Madam chair. I make that motion. Speaker 5 00:07:41 Okay. Madam chair. I'm sorry. This is canceled and kale. Um, Mr. Barlow, could you just say, what was the original date? We're just extending it a minor amount of time. Speaker 2 00:07:51 Yes, we're extending it to August 31st. So a month and a half Madam chair. I mean, I miss, uh, Councilman kale. I apologize. Speaker 5 00:08:02 I'll second that motion Speaker 3 00:08:04 Roll call please. Two August. The what? The, when that was the 31st. Okay. Thank you. Roll call please. Speaker 1 00:08:14 Councilman Cahill. Yes. Ms. Corcoran. Yes. Reverend Kenney. Mr. Espinosa. Nope. Mr. Foster and Madam chair Speaker 3 00:08:28 Abstain. Speaker 1 00:08:37 Okay. Number 11. Speaker 3 00:08:41 Is that still Speaker 1 00:08:43 The board of education? Speaker 3 00:08:45 Board of education. Okay. Um, do we have a representative from the board of education, courtesy review of the installation of rooftop, solar panels on eight buildings who was appearing for the Speaker 6 00:08:56 Boy? I, this is James Brown. I'm the president of the BZ energy where the vendor that is providing the solar power solutions to the board of education. Speaker 3 00:09:08 Okay. Mr. Brown continue. You may continue. Okay. Speaker 6 00:09:14 So as an overview, we are proposing to place solar on the rooftops of the eight Skyway school district buildings. Um, we're offering that through, what's called a power purchase agreement, which requires no capital outlay by the school district and saves them money over the term of the contract. It's a 15 year power purchase agreement where they purchase power at a much lower price than what they're paying now. So it's a great benefit to the school district, saves them money. It doesn't cost them any money to implement the solar. We install it for them, operate it, maintain it. And it's financed by one of our third-party partners, a company called green skies. And we've done this for many school districts throughout the state, um, where they don't have to use any of their budget money to get solar and still save money. Um, if you would like I can share the screen that shows, um, the layouts for the various schools, if you're interested in seeing that or Speaker 3 00:10:19 What would be interested in seeing that, Speaker 6 00:10:21 Okay, I'm going to try to share my screen and get through the layouts. So this school here is a getaway high school, um, and I believe they have existing solar already and we're adding to it to provide more savings. Um, they basically worked on their roofs and made their roofs in better condition so that solar could, um, last on those roofs, um, for the term of the contract. So again, we, it on the rooftop, it's not really visible from the street. No one can actually see it. And, uh, even though it's there, unless they're flying by or flying a drone or we're up on the roof, this particular system is 220 KW generates about 300,000 kilowatt hours a year. Um, it's 491 solar panels and we're using the latest technology, which are 450 watt panels. And it basically, the system just integrates into the electric room of this school. And again, produces the green energy, uh, and saves the school money. Any questions on that Speaker 3 00:11:38 Questions from the board on this installation of these styles on the high school, Speaker 7 00:11:44 If I may join quicker and just run question, what is the proposed height of the panels above the roof? Speaker 6 00:11:52 It's very low and it's, they're basically, um, laid flat on the roof and they want a slight angle, like a five degree angle, so that the low end is like several only a several inches. And it goes up about 12 inches, um, at the high end on an angle. So you can't see them at all from the, on the street Speaker 7 00:12:14 And the equipment. Is that on the ground or, um, where would that be located? Okay. Speaker 6 00:12:22 Oh, the inverters. Um, typically we installed them on the roof and that's what we're doing here. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 3 00:12:32 Any other questions from the board? Okay. Speaker 5 00:12:35 Madam chair, council, and then K health. Just a real cool question and ask him, well, I'm not sure if you know this, but, um, do you know the timeline of when the work will start and complete? Speaker 6 00:12:47 Um, we always plan on about 12 month period just to be safe because, um, there's a lot of processes we have to go through with the, obviously the permitting, um, those types of things, getting the materials, um, designing the system, you know, final engineering. We have to do structural engineering, all sorts of engineering before we can even start installing. So we say 12 months, normally we can install it quicker than that. So we're hoping, um, between seven and eight months is probably reasonable. It's kind of, it's a tough environment right now, as you know, with the COVID, a lot of offices have not been working. Um, factories have been shut down, so materials are very hard to get right now. Um, so it it's slowing down our processing. So it may, it may take the 12 months, but we're hoping things improve and we can get installed quicker. Speaker 3 00:13:46 Any other, any other questions from board members? Okay. Mr. Brown, would you like to move to the other schools? Speaker 6 00:13:55 Yes. Speaker 3 00:13:57 Go ahead. And you may proceed. Speaker 6 00:13:59 This is the quibble town middle school. And as you can see, they already have solar, the black panels you see on the roof or the existing solar system. So we're adding to that, um, a small, additional Ray, because the utilities won't let us produce more than what the school uses during a year. So we can only add a little bit and save them a little bit more money than they're saving now with the solar, but I'm just simply up on the roof. And again, you can't really see it. This one's a little bit higher, meaning that the roof is high up in the air. So I don't believe people be able to see it from the ground, but, um, it's a small, small addition to that particular school. Any questions on that one? Speaker 3 00:14:45 So the newer panels, the panels to be installed are the ones that are shaded blue, correct? Speaker 6 00:14:51 Yes. Speaker 3 00:14:52 And the gray is the older, the ones that are already there. Speaker 6 00:14:55 Exactly. Those are the existing panels. Yes. Okay. Speaker 3 00:14:59 Any other questions from board members on this installation? Okay. And you may proceed Mr. Brown to the next one. Speaker 6 00:15:07 Okay. And this is the T score middle school if I'm saying that, right. I'm sure. Speaker 3 00:15:12 Your middle school. Speaker 6 00:15:13 Yup. So it has a smaller, existing rate array, solar Ray, that's the black panels you see on the roof and all the blue is the new that we'll be adding, um, through our project. So it's roughly a 269 KW system. So it's decent size is about 599 solar panels. Again, we're using 450 watt panels, which are some of the highest wattage available right now. So trying to get the maximum savings to the school that we can, any questions on this one questions Speaker 3 00:15:45 From the boy, Speaker 4 00:15:54 Uh, uh, Speaker 6 00:16:01 Uh, easy energy is the general contractor. So we manage the entire installation and then we do have various subcontractors depending on what's required. Speaker 4 00:16:11 Okay. All right. Thank you. Speaker 3 00:16:18 Any other questions from the board? Okay. You may proceed. Speaker 6 00:16:23 Uh, this one is the ethyl road maintenance facility. Um, it's a real small building. Um, we are checking out the structure there. It's not a very strong structure. So this project may not move forward. If our structural engineer determines that the roof can not, or the building structure cannot hold the solar panels. Um, it's a very small system, so it won't affect much of the savings to the school, but if the structure is not right, um, obviously we don't want to put anything on the roof. That's not safe. So, um, we're waiting for that final determination and it's not looking good. The, uh, structure doesn't have a strong foundation for their beams and their, uh, upright pillars. So this project may not go forward, but waiting for the final a hundred percent determination from the engineer, Speaker 8 00:17:21 Madam chair, if I may, this is mayor Walla that doesn't surprise me out there on the Alfond road building, because that was all part of the, uh, that was built in the 1940s, says camp Kilmer. Uh, that was one of the barracks, I think, the muscle all the time. And then it was reused in 1956 to house the Hungarian refugees, uh, from the Hungarian uprising. Speaker 6 00:17:44 Wow. So it gave you Speaker 8 00:17:45 A little, Speaker 3 00:17:49 Very old building, so unfortunately it may not be able to hold the solar. So anyway, we'll see how that goes. Any, any other questions on that, on that building? Um, any other questions from the board? Okay. Uh, you may proceed to the next one. Speaker 6 00:18:05 Uh, next one is Martin Luther king intermediate school. Um, this one did not have a previous, um, solar system, so we will be installing it on most of the roofs, the one roof we're not slowing on it. It has a lot of equipment up there and the roof is older, so we can't really put it on older roofs. Um, it's about, uh, 330 KW system, about 734 solar panels. Um, we're using 430 watt panels there and, um, hopefully we'll be getting that up and running soon and get the savings generated for the school. Speaker 3 00:18:40 Okay. Next question is from the I'm sorry, questions from the board on, um, king school. Okay. Sorry, Mr. Brown, you can proceed. Speaker 6 00:18:51 Okay. Uh, next one is Eisenhower elementary. This is another one that did not have a previous solar system. So we're installing it on most of the roofs and it's about 242 KW, about 539 of those 450 watt panels. And I'm looking forward to getting that savings going for the school as soon as we can. Speaker 3 00:19:13 Okay. Questions from the board? Um, no questions from the board. Um, you may proceed. Do you have more? Speaker 6 00:19:22 Yup. Uh, Arbor intermediate, um, as you can see it, it does have the existing solar panels. The new ones are the blue panels. Um, we can only add about 54 KW, which is kind of small, but we'll provide additional savings to the school. So, um, okay. Any questions on that one? Speaker 3 00:19:46 No questions. Uh, you may move on. Speaker 6 00:19:48 Okay. Next one is no wood elementary school. And again, this one did not have a previous solar system. So all the blue panels are the new ones. Uh, it's about 889 KW 421 solar panels, 450 Watts each. And I'm again, looking forward to getting that going so we can get the savings going. Speaker 3 00:20:11 Okay. Any questions from the board, hearing your question? You may pertain Mr. Graham. Speaker 6 00:20:18 Okay. Next one is grand view elementary. Again, didn't have a previous solar system. So it's all new. As you see in the blue, it's about 266 KW 530 panels at 450 Watts each and, uh, two different arrays spread out on the roof and looking forward to getting going. Speaker 3 00:20:42 Okay. Uh, any questions from the board on Grandview hearing? No questions, Mr. Brown. Okay. Speaker 6 00:20:53 The next, last thing a lot, at least one is fellowship farm school. And again, it did not have a previous, um, solar system we'll be installing. As you see with the blue boxes. Those would be the new solar panels that 150 KW system, 334 panels at 450 Watts each and again, in summary, there's no capital outlay to the school. It's all on the rooftop that the inverters are on the roofs. And in most cases, um, sometimes they're installed on the walls of the school, near the electric room, if there's not enough room on the roof, but normally we try to, uh, keep them on the, on the roof with the panels. Um, so again, it doesn't cost the school, anything, the school district, board of education, anything saves the school district money, um, get them green energy and, um, provides long-term savings for them. Speaker 3 00:21:49 Okay. Any questions from the board on this school or any other schools that's been presented so far? Okay. I'd like to open it up to the public for any comments from the public, or would you check to see your screen Speaker 6 00:22:07 Mr. Brown? Yes, please. Speaker 1 00:22:10 It's easier for me to see everyone. No one is raising their hands. Madam chair. Speaker 3 00:22:17 Okay. Close to the board. Um, close to the public. I'm fine. I apologize. Uh, with the board, have any further questions for Mr. Brown and or we can, or any comments hearing no response, Mr. Brown, I thank you for your report. Do we need to do a motion or anything? Mr. Barlow? Speaker 2 00:22:40 No, my own chair. It's a courtesy review. So, um, if the board had any comments, they can certainly share with Mr. Brown or with the board of ed, if there was something you wanted me to direct to the board of ed, um, but absent that, um, I wish Mr. Brown a good evening. Speaker 3 00:23:00 Thank you, Mr. Brown. Thank you for the report. Speaker 6 00:23:02 Thank you. Ma'am sure. Thanks. Thanks everybody for your time. Your welcome. Speaker 3 00:23:10 Okay. We will then proceed with, um, are we proceeding with item number 13 or 14 as it is? Speaker 2 00:23:21 Um, Rob Robinson has been adjourned, Speaker 3 00:23:27 So Speaker 2 00:23:28 It's my agenda has the bills and an adjournment managers. Speaker 3 00:23:32 Okay. Thank you. I like the motion to pay the bills. Okay. Second Roco. No, don't lose your sheet out. Speaker 1 00:23:54 It's a busy meeting. Your wallet council, woman. Kay hill. Ms. Corcoran. Yes. Reverend Kenny. Mr. Espinosa, Mr. Foster. Yes. And Madam chair. Speaker 3 00:24:10 Yes. Well that being the case, the meeting is adjourned until our workshop meeting is July 28th. And our next planning board meet regular planning board meeting is August the 11th. Everyone stay safe, Have a good summer. Speaker 1 00:24:42 All of a sudden he's shy. And I called him.