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Commissioner Jacobs noted that the sign is falling down that says "Future Site of a Park." He also finds it curious that there is always something that trumps walkability. Commissioner Halkiatis said that he does not believe Piedmont Electric will allow anything in their easement, and he does not think it is a good idea to allow these activities under the power lines. He is committed to the action sports facility, however. He hopes that space can be found for it. Commissioner Gordon would like to address when the water and sewer lines are going to be put in and where the money is going to come from. She asked if the Soccer Superfund would be used for this facility. 3. Discussion of Educational Excellence Work Group Report Rod Visser said that on March 15t , Dr. Madeline Grumet and her team of researchers reported to the Board of County Commissioners the findings and recommendations related to the work of the Educational Excellence Work Group. The Board of County Commissioners did not have much time to discuss the report at that time, but asked Dr. Grumet to try and make herself available to each of the two school boards sa that they could hear the full presentation. Dr. Grumet has already met with CHCCS and is scheduled to meet with OCS an April 25tH Commissioner Halkiotis said that he is concerned about the challenge with this budget season. He is really worried because the County Attorney said that if the County does something for one system it has to do it for the other system. He thinks the word "merger" needs to be said again. He thinks the Manager needs to take some of the staff, the "think tank", and go away for a couple of days and brainstorm all of the possibilities. The County has a multitude of other responsibilities besides the school systems. He thinks this will be the most challenging budget year that he has faced since he has been an the Board in 18 years. He hopes that the Manager will be bringing a menu of possibilities with the pros and cons. Commissioner Gordon said that it is all going to come down to money no matter how it is done. She is also worried about this year. She still thinks that if there are more resources to the OCS, then it means that taxes will have to be raised in the OCS. She does not think there should be a merger at this time. Either way, the funding has to be adjusted. She would like to define equity and do something at least this calendar year. Chair Carey said that the reason the Board has this report is because it tabled discussions about funding equity and merger until this report was available. He would like to put the issue back on the table of the implications of equity and what anticipated capital savings there would be if there was a merger. He thinks it is incumbent upon the Board to pick up the discussion that was tabled last year when all of the information is available, including the information from Bob Segal. He thinks the Board will be forced to make some decisions about the funding issue before it has this in-depth discussion. Commissioner Jacobs said that the County has a strategic plan for Recreation and Parks, but it does not have a strategic plan for how to equitably fund the schools. He thinks it is a priority. He made reference to Superintendent Pedersen's memo and said that, although he supports the concept of equity, he is waiting to see how thick the ice is before he is willing to jump up and dawn. Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to the lottery and said that they should not predicate any decisions on whether or not it will come to fruition. He said that what worries him the most is the sense that, while they are trying to bring one school system up, the other school system will start losing things if it is loses money from Raleigh. He does Hat want to see the CHCCS hurt, but he wants to see the OCS helped, and that is why he wants to see every possible option. Chair Carey said that the next steps are to get the report from Segal and schedule another work session after the budget is adapted.