With the first in a series of seven meetings scheduled for next Wednesday, Napa County is about to begin reworking its road map to the future -- the county's General Plan.

It is the first time in two decades that the task has been undertaken, and the price tag is already approaching $2 million.

When the cost of having consultants work with the county staff on the series of public meetings came in at $57,822 a week ago, the board of supervisors demanded it be scaled back. It was brought back this Tuesday at almost half the original cost, or $29,820.

The board unanimously approved a new maximum of $1,700,044 for the firm of Jones & Stokes/EDAW to work through the process which is now in its second year.

The Jan. 19 meeting is slated for the Calistoga Community Center at 6 p.m.

County officials say the purpose of this round of public sessions is to obtain input that will be used to guide the general plan update process. Board chair Diane Dillon, in whose district four of the seven meetings will be held, said, "At first glance these may sound like rather boring meetings, but in fact, they are quite important. The General Plan is the foundation for zoning and other decisions that can be made years after the General Plan is actually updated."

Dillon said such large issues as growth rate, water supply and traffic will be discussed, as well as specifics like park locations, helicopter landing and what may occur on the property next door to those living in unincorporated areas.

Supervisors were able to scale back the additional cost of the consultant by reducing the number of professional planners at the meetings, and reserving one major presentation for the Napa meeting only on March 30, rather than having presentations at all seven sessions.

The current plan is to have 12 planners from the county's Conservation, Development and Planning Department present in order to break into small brainstorming groups, although supervisors said if the number of public participants is low, they will scale that back as well. "If we have 12 planners and 13 (members of the public), we won't do that again," said Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht.

Assistant Planning Director Patrick Lynch said they anticipate between 50 and 100 participants at the Calistoga meeting.

Debra Blodgett of Winegrowers of Napa County questioned whether a dozen planners working on the General Plan would jeopardize other projects waiting in the queue.

Lynch assured her and the board that all use permit applications and planning items will remain on track.

Jones & Stokes/EDAW will provide senior planners, a GIS planner and a technical writer who will prepare a report summarizing the public input and fine tuning what is termed a Baseline Data Report.

According to a staff memo, that will lead to development of a comprehensive look at "a variety of environmental, human and public services that contribute to the existing quality of life enjoyed by Napa County residents and visitors."