Modesto council to accept downtown rail study

MODESTO -- The Modesto City Council is expected to accept a downtown passenger train station study, whose details include the possibility of commuter trains linking Stanislaus County to the Bay Area within a decade.

The $100,000 Downtown Passenger Rail Station Feasibility Study was paid for by a California Department of Transportation grant.

The study lays out the need for a downtown station because of high-speed rail that would link the Bay Area to Southern California via the San Joaquin Valley. High-speed rail would include Sacramento.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority could start construction south of Merced this year. But officials have said high-speed rail is probably 40 years away from coming to Modesto. But Altamont Commuter Express trains could come to Modesto by 2022. The ACE Manteca-Lathrop station now is the closest link to Stanislaus County.

The feasibility study suggests that a train station could be built by the downtown Transportation Center on Ninth Street. The city held public workshops in determining the site for the potential train station.

But city officials have stressed that the feasibility study is just that and does not obligate the city to take any action.

In addition to accepting the feasibility study, staff is asking the council to appoint one of its members to the Central Valley Regional Rail Policy Advisory Committee.

A city report states having a council member on the committee will help ensure Modesto "will be afforded the best possible rail service as future passenger rail systems are planned and built throughout the region."

The City Council meets today at 5:30 p.m. in the basement chamber of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St.

The Modesto City Council meets today at 5:30 p.m. in the basement chamber of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St. The council is expected to consider:

• Changing the minimum supervisory experience required to become a Modesto police captain, from two years as a lieutenant to two years as a supervisor with at least one year as a lieutenant. The city wants to make the change in the anticipation of the retirement of a police captain. Without the change, a city report states only a limited number of internal candidates could apply for the position.

• Approving a reorganization plan for Modesto Centre Plaza that includes the elimination of the positions of events and facility supervisors and administrative analyst and adding the position of center manager. A report states these changes will result in a savings of as much as $179,000. A center manager would have more authority and responsibility than an events supervisor and will be able to do a better job managing, promoting and marketing the downtown convention center.

• Awarding contracts worth $1.67 million over five years to several firms to provide analytical laboratory testing services for the city's water and waste water.

• The council is expected to meet in closed session regarding two court actions filed against it: one by Stanislaus Food Products Co. over how much the city charges for sewer fees and one by the North Modesto Groundwater Alliance over a city project to build a well and other water improvements for Del Rio residents.

— Kevin Valine