Meetings starting for park plans

A series of public meetings begins today on the new Yosemite management plan, a comprehensive document covering the Merced River through Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Valley and the communities of El Portal and Wawona. You may remember that the previous plan was judged inadequate and a recent settlement called for a do-over. The meetings closest to our area:

• Wednesday — Yosemite Valley Visitor Center East Auditorium, 1 to 4 p.m.

• Nov. 2 — Mariposa Government Center, 5100 Bullion St., 4 to 8 p.m.

• Nov. 4 — Groveland Community Hall, 4 to 8 p.m.

For more information: www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/newmrp.htm.

Closer to home, elected officials will be talking about everything from containing the flu to preventing FOG (fats, oil and grease) in Modesto's sewer lines to establishing rules for funeral processions in Turlock.

• The Modesto City Schools board, meeting at 6 p.m. today, will talk about budget and about issuing bonds to help pay for the completion of Gregori High School. The closed session before the regular meeting includes setting current-year goals for Superintendent Arturo Flores. Meeting location: 425 Locust St.

• The Modesto City Council's Finance Committee meets at 5:30 p.m. today to talk about money matters, naturally. Staff has added up the stimulus dollars received by the city so far and it totals $19 million, with applications pending for an additional $30 million plus. Tenth Street Place, Room 2005.

• Tuesday, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors has one of those agendas that reflects the wide scope and huge size of its operations, with items ranging from garbage rates in unincorporated areas to debit cards at branch libraries to public health preparedness for the H1N1 flu pandemic. The flu discussion may be most interesting, but the intense debate likely will be on whether to award a contract to a Lodi firm to proceed with the design and construction of a new animal shelter. The bids came in about $2 million below estimates, a good sign. Some private veterinarians still oppose having a low- cost spay-neuter clinic included in the project. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the basement of Tenth Street Place.

• The Modesto City Council, meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, will discuss whether to drill wells to provide untreated water for irrigating parks and a contract to reduce the FOG problem (see above). Also up for discussion is a proposal to split the public works department, breaking off from it a separate utilities project and planning department, which presumably would be headed by the current public works Director Nick Pinhey, an expert on water issues. One of the deputy public works directors would become the interim public works director. Over the past 20 years, Modesto's public works department has had many configurations. Every city manager seems to have an organizational preference. If this organizational change can improve efficiency without significantly raising costs, then we're OK with it. Basement, Tenth Street Place.

• The Turlock City Council, meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, will talk about setting business license fees for large family day care operations and about adopting an ordinance to license funeral escort services to direct traffic during funeral processions. (No, we're not making this up.) Modesto has such an ordinance. A local company started offering funeral escort services in Turlock, using motorcycles and uniforms that resemble those of police officers, bringing this issue to the fore. 156 S. Broadway.

• The Modesto Irrigation District board of directors has a special meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Agenda items include raising camping fees at Don Pedro Reservoir.