Everyone stay safe.
I would ask that I remain a panelist since I'm here on another matter.
For the next case.
Oh, yay.
I'm sorry.
Can I take a quick break, real quick?
Yeah, take your time.
Oh, sure.
Okay, thank you.
Ten minutes.
Okay, thank you.
I should be removed from the panel.
Thank you, everybody.
Have a good day.
Thank you.
Bye, Paul.
Bye, Michael.
Bye, Rich.
Okay, calendar number 3131, 1913-2568th Avenue.
is there an attorney other than leonard
there's someone here with the last name i know
you've been on the baby
are you for this case miss
ma'am are you here for 68th avenue no no all right you'll have to wait
is there any anyone here regarding it should be leonard leonard are you there
Yeah, Leonard's probably just getting his last drag in.
1913-2568th Avenue.
I'm here.
All right, Leonard, is there anyone else here for 1913-2568th Avenue?
There should be.
I have someone with the last name Little Page.
Their hand is up.
Leonard, were you going to say something?
Yes, actually, there should be several people here for our team, for the city's team.
Let me see if they're here or in the lobby, perhaps.
Yes, I have Althea Udo-Inyang, who says that she is in the waiting room.
Although that was quite a while ago.
although that was quite a while ago um so leonard we don't have a waiting room
So Leonard...
if she's here they can just raise their hands okay we also have a christopher anderson is he
here yes he's here okay so christopher anderson uh i don't know if althea is here she may have
had a conflict that came up also a nicole brown and a michael elisco
okay mr anderson you can unmute yourself and talk and i also see do you want me to unmute
um althea i also see her now yes uh michael alisco also
i also see his name would you like him unmuted yes and uh last but not least uh nicole brown
her i don't see as of yet i see her in the attendee list
she's required to raise her hand to be notified nicole if you could raise your hand
okay well i'll let her know um chances are nicole uh might not need to speak uh anyway
so i think we could begin if chris chris is uh um going to be the master of ceremonies once we
started. So I just wanted to, I guess if we can get started, I can just go ahead and just give a
quick rundown of why we're here. And not just identify yourself, you know, you're still on the
roof, just identify yourself. Sure, thank you. Leonard F. Reuter, Senior Attorney for the City
of Philadelphia, here representing the Philadelphia Water Department. And this is Christopher
anderson watersheds program manager for the philadelphia water department christopher do
you swear in a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do leonard yes thank
you so uh what we're doing here is this is a pumping station that has been in existence since
probably around 1958 when the city purchased the property i wanted to state for the record that we
we're not able to get a copy of the deed yet we're still looking for it but as is often the
case with city properties in my experience locating deeds can sometimes be difficult
especially if the property had been taken through exercise of eminent domain or something so we're
still looking at that I did provide a tax certificate that was valid as of this morning
I provided that to Ms. Saleta and Ms. Sunkit and asked that it be made part of the record.
Again also I have the application materials and I think then if I can just share my screen,
I'm just going to flip through that super quick just so that you all know that we have
everything.
So if you can see that, this is the application materials.
It's actually a set of the plans.
Did you enlarge that?
Yes, I'm going to.
Let me see.
I was hoping to get to a full screen.
These, obviously, they're plans.
These are full size, so I'm going to have to reduce it a little bit.
So this is the property here.
This is a triangular property bounded by Wincoat Avenue and 68th Street.
I'm sorry, 68th Avenue.
And the facility that's marked out here that I'm kind of flipping my cursor around on,
that's where the facility is located.
um so again what we're seeking to do here is just uh we are attaching a couple new electrical
facilities to this in order to be basically backup for the existing generators at the facility this
is a pumping station i don't want to get in too much detail about what this is and chris will
do that but basically we made an application we're putting in the new generators
and also as a requirement from the Department of Homeland Security, because it is a public utility
facility that is critical operations, we are required to provide additional protection. So
there is an existing fence, but we are increasing the size of the fence to, I believe, around eight
feet. And because of that height of the fence, that generated the refusal. So
it is really just the fence that we're here for but you know because the fence is necessitated
by the generators at least immediately that's they're required by the generators you know we
can talk about what the facility is doing and why we're putting that in I do want to point out and
I think Chris can address this again when he he discusses it it is very likely that the city at
again when he he discusses it uh it is very likely that the city at some point in the near future
would be required to put a new higher fence up regardless of whether we're putting the generators
in uh because i believe all public utility facilities are now required by homeland security
to have um higher uh higher fences as well as other additional security if necessary
so again just going to flip through some of the plans it's the this is actually this is a pretty
complete set of plans. Actually these are probably going to also be sufficient for the
building permits at the location. So let me just go on and just show you the other
normal application materials. There of course is the copy of the refusal
that was issued and again it's just for the height of the perimeter fence.
These are just some notices we received of the hearing. This is a copy of, as you know,
under the emergency regulations, we're sort of making our own posters. This is the poster,
a copy of the content of the poster that was placed at the location.
This is our project information form. This is the letter that we sent to the RCO and the neighbors.
This is actually before the, I'm sorry, this was once we learned of the date of the RCO meeting.
We sent out a prior notice before the RCO meeting got sent up.
And again, according to both the code and the rules and regulations, we had to update that once we did get the information.
And that was a meeting that was held via Zoom on February 4th at 6.30.
by the 10th Democratic Ward RCO, and also present was Hilary Emerson on behalf of Councilmember
Cheryl Parker. That's the earlier notice. This is the additional notice that we're required
to place at the site. This shows the specific information that we had to place regarding
the RCO meeting again is required by code and again the posters were placed around the property
and again we did have the meeting we got my understanding we did we did get the support of
the RCO I don't know as of this moment whether they were able to send in their letter of support
but I believe they did and I believe also that Ms. Emerson should also be here when it when the time
appropriate for her to indicate what the position of the council member is so basically let me
interrupt if i could apologize uh so let's assume that there's no opposition from the rco i'll
assume that for the moment and then miss emerson's going to be in support is there anything we can
do to summarize and move this along more quickly yeah i think uh chris has a uh i think a very
short powerpoint presentation that will just give you some pictures once he does that we're done
Thank you. Appreciate it.
So I'll hand it over to Chris, who I believe will then be sharing his screen to do the PowerPoint.
And it's very brief. So thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. And if possible, if I could be promoted to panelists just to be able to share my screen.
He's going to come back in. He's been promoted to panelists.
Thank you. Thank you. Please proceed.
thank you is everyone able to hear me yes hi chris sorry i'll uh start the presentation
um thank you again to the chair and members of the zoning board of adjustment for allowing us
to present to you today.
We have a brief presentation that was provided to the RCO
in question for the property we're discussing today
that just provides a brief overview of the project
as well as some renderings to help illustrate
exactly what PPD's intent is with the fencing
we're required to install.
As Lender mentioned, the facility was constructed in 1959.
It is a part of the city's drinking water infrastructure.
that helps ensure proper inadequate supply to customers across the city.
What makes this site particularly important for the Water Department
is that it serves as an emergency backup in case of a loss of pressure
or an incident at our Upper Roxborough Reservoir.
This station is designed to kick in and provide that additional pumping power
to make sure that customers have adequate service
in case of an issue up at that larger facility.
And PWD began the process to renovate the facility in 2020.
The PWD began the process to renovate the facility in 2020.
Most of the work on site was able to be initiated through standard building processes and permitting,
and it's really the fencing for the exterior of the facility that required an additional
zoning review and the refusal of why we're here with you today.
Just to provide brief context, the project will be installing a new roof on site for
new modern efficient water pumps, upgrading the electrical system to be able to power
those new pumps.
In addition, in speaking to the site's role as an emergency backup for the system, PWD
is also installing an exterior generator to the building that will be having fencing as
well that will provide a soundproof enclosure to help minimize any disruptions in the neighborhood.
And the fencing for that generator is also included in that refusal for the larger exterior
fencing that we're discussing today. And of course, the new 8th Street exterior fencing.
This is a picture of the site currently. It has a standard wrought iron fence,
very common for the late 1950s, early 60s. And this is the picture of the fencing that
PWD is proposing to install in addition with the fencing for the enclosure for that new
emergency generator on the exterior of the building. To the best extent possible,
the Water Department is continuing to use that whole same style of wrought iron fencing to
minimize any changes for the community. However, as Leonard said, as a part of PWD's planning efforts,
we are required to meet federal mandates for post 9-11 security enhancements and one of the areas
in particular we've been continuing to upgrade is as we're making improvements to facilities,
we're increasing the fence height to meet those new federal standards as they've been applied to
PWD and the city. And the variance today is the site in particular is zoned residentially to match
the surrounding dwellings around it and that residential zoning only permits a fence height
of four feet which would be insufficient to meet the federal mandate that PWD is under
required to follow. As Leonard mentioned you know we have been moving forward with required
community notification um two letters were sent to the community and a meeting was held last week
where we discussed the project in detail with the community members and based on feedback we received
from council member parker's office we were told that the community was in support and then voted
unanimously to not oppose the projects and that the councilwoman or sorry the council member staff
and herself were also not opposed to the project um and just as a quick summary we're here
presenting to the ZBA today. The increased fence height with the project is designed to look very
similar to the current fencing, but just meeting the new height requirements. The new generator
includes soundproofing, and as discussed with the community, the attempt was made by PDWD to
minimize any disruption. The new generator, when it is operating, would sound no louder than a
wand mower if you were standing rather close to it at about 75 decibels.
PDB plans to only run that generator once a month for about an hour just for routine
maintenance and then obviously in case of emergency. The project will not impact any
existing use of the sidewalk or the parking in that particular block and we anticipate that once
the variance is granted or if the variance is granted the project should be complete within
in three to six months.
Clues my presentation.
Thank you, Chris.
And you also heard my introduction at the beginning.
Would you adopt my statements as your own?
I would.
Thank you.
So with that, members of the board,
we're happy to answer any questions.
I do see that Hillary Emerson has her hand raised.
So obviously she can speak for council member Parker.
and we also have Michael Aliska who's the project engineer and Nicole Brown who's the project
manager if you have any additional questions. Thank you. Questions from the board? No.
Anyone else like to testify? No. Please raise your hand.
Ms. Emerson you can unmute yourself and speak.