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4 <br />1 Orange County's Future Task Force presented some frightening figures with respect to how <br />2 many schools would be needed by the year 2030. He said that when Planning Director Craig <br />3 Benedict first came to Orange County, he started doing some studies and conservatively <br />4 predicted that 19 schools would be needed by the year 2030. Commissioner Halkiotis said that <br />5 the amount of money that would be needed to fund these schools is really scary. He feels that <br />6 the County has been very frugal in building necessary structures that it needs for its own <br />7 programs and that if all of the expenditures for buildings that have been built for County <br />8 functions over the last ten years were added together, the total would not add up to the cost of <br />9 one elementary school. He mentioned that it is projected that the County will need a new, very <br />10 large jail soon. He feels that it is foolish for the County not to plan for the $340,000,000 that it is <br />11 going to cost to build 19 new schools. <br />12 Chair Carey clarified that the projected 19 schools does not include replacements. <br />13 Nick Didow shared some thoughts. He invited the County Commissioners to include <br />14 participation by the school board members in initiatives like this. He said that the standards that <br />15 Pam Jones mentioned were not something new in terms of construction. If these standards are <br />16 a way to gain some additional efficiencies and to do an even better job of the stewardship of the <br />17 funds then he feels it is a good idea. He thinks that the school boards have considerable <br />18 experience in this type of analysis and would be happy to share it. <br />19 Susan Halkiotis made reference to the statement that the standards would be reviewed <br />20 periodically. She feels that with the changes in technology and innovations a review is <br />21 necessary. She feels it is something that is already being done and that sharing information <br />22 would be useful. <br />23 Chair Carey said that he feels it would be beneficial for all parties to sit down to discuss <br />24 the standards and look at them periodically to see if they need to be revised. <br />25 Gloria Faley made reference to the next item, Parks Task Force Resolution on Joint <br />26 Access to Recreation Facilities, and said that when considering these facilities the effect of open <br />27 facilities on the teaching atmosphere needs to be studied. <br />28 Chair Carey said that this recommendation includes a group from the school boards and <br />29 the County getting together over the next few months to arrive at a plan. <br />30 Pam Jones said that the standards she spoke of create an overlay to the existing <br />31 standards. <br />32 John Link said that the present standards are quantitative in terms of the amount of <br />33 square footage per function in the schools. <br />34 Keith Cook said that the schools already have guidelines that have been incorporated <br />35 over the years and it seems that the two school boards are not given the credit they are due for <br />36 already doing a good job. He said that the guidelines should be flexible as things change over <br />37 the years. He requested that the County invite the school boards to discuss these things early <br />38 in the process. <br />39 Chair Carey said that he wished this meeting could have been earlier. He said that the <br />40 County Commissioners have to initiate things that are in the best interest of the public in Orange <br />41 County and sometimes the school boards cannot be included in the process early on. He said <br />42 that it was unreasonable to think that the school boards would be brought in to discuss matters <br />43 before the County Commissioners discuss them among themselves. <br />44 <br />45 c. Parks Task Force Resolution on Joint Access to Recreation Facilities <br />46 John Link said that the Parks Task Force, as chaired by Commissioner Brown, asked <br />47 that this resolution be shared with each jurisdiction. This resolution calls for each jurisdiction to <br />48 carefully consider an open facilities policy. <br />49 Commissioner Brown said that when the parks bond passed in 1997, the County <br />50 Commissioners felt that there was a need for a task force to develop goals for using this bond <br />51 money. An inventory of all facilities was completed. The task force was a countywide <br />52 committee looking at recreation facilities. This resolution addresses the issue of open facilities