Minutes - 20031021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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improving the use of its transportation facilities. He volunteered that C7range County would host the next meeting and do a presentation on the Orange Grove Road access management plan and on public transportation. Commissioner Jacobs said that he and Commissioner Carey attended the Business Expo last week and that there were more vendors and visitors to the Expo than ever before. He said that Camp New Hope was marketing itself as a meeting facility. He would like for them to pair with Blackwood Farms. Commissioner Barry Jacobs said that he was looking at the agenda for TTA and he noticed that it was about to adopt legislative initiatives, and Commissioner Gordon is making the report. He wants to know what the legislative initiatives are that TTA is pursuing. Commissioner Jacobs suggested that all letters to other entities that the Chair writes be circulated for all Board of County Commissioners to review before they go out. Commissioner Jacobs said that he hopes that the November 20t" work session is televised since it will be first time that they will be discussing the school merger issue since the public hearings. Commissioner Jacobs said that he feels that this Board needs to take more control of the situation regarding the issue of school merger. He hopes that the Chair will come to the next work session with a plan and a timetable. He was pleased to see that the Orange County school board deferred making a decision on a district tax. He said that he thinks that the public does not understand what is going on or does not have a time frame for a decision. Commissioner Carey said that he agrees with Commissioner Jacobs and that there is no other timeframe except the public hearings and work sessions. He was assuming that at the first work session that they would have enough interchange to arrive at a timeframe for a decision. He was assuming that the Board would not make a decision until after the December 4t" public hearing. He also assumed that the work session would be televised. The public should get the information firsthand. He said that it is up to the Board to provide clarity to the public. Commissioner Jacobs said that he is concerned that if the Board waits until November 20tH to state that there is going to be a process, that it leaves another month for people to react to misinformation. The Board is the group that can offer some assurance that there is a method and a process that can be trusted. He said that a process should be in place before the Board adjourns for the winter break. Commissioner Halkiotis said that Commissioner Jacobs is on target. He agrees that this is like a tempest swirling around and the public is caught up in it. He made reference to an article today about busing 1,400 students. He said that there was wild speculation. He said that, with all due respect to the press, this is a Commissioner goal and not an election or a campaign issue. He thinks the Board needs to get a handle an it. He is not voting in November to merge the schools. This is not what the Board said in January when they set the goal to study the implications of merger. Chair Brown suggested moving the item for the goal from the November 20tH meeting to the November 11t" work session. Commissioner Jacobs agreed with this. Chair Brawn said that all of the Commissioners have their own opinion and it is only a goal. She said that the press has blown this up to be a decision process. This is the same process that was used to develop goals for watershed protection. The Board has been very deliberate about collecting information for months. She said that what she has heard is that the people want more information. A lot of people have learned that the school districts are different. She made reference to the information from Dr. Pedersen today about speculating how many students would have to be redistricted. The Board agreed to discuss school merger at the November 11t" work session. The work session will be televised.