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Home My WebLink About5.c. City Newspaper / Newletter Operations ConsiderationCITY OF ROSEMOUNT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR ACTION CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: DECEMBER 15, 1992 AGENDA ITEM: CITY NEWSPAPER/NEWSLETTER AGENDA SECTIONS OPERATIONS CONSIDERATION OLD BUSINESS' PREPARED BY: STEPHAN JILK, CITY ADMINISTRATOR AGENDA NO. 11IN # 5 P. ATTACE24ENTS : MEMO OVs B On October 20, 1992, Mr. Todd Heikkila announced that he no longer wished to continue publishing the "Rosemount Town Pages" under a contract 'basis with the City of Rosemount. Mr. Heikkila has announced that as of January 1, 1993 the "Rosemount Town Pages" will become a "subscription" newspaper. This new status of the paper and elimination of the contract relationship between the City and Mr. Heikkila causes the City to be placed in a position without a guaranteed method of providing communication to its residents because with a subscription format for the newspaper there is no guarantee that the paper will be delivered to each mailing address in the community. Staff has again reviewed options for continuing with some form of written and/or verbal/visual communication with the general public and continued communication meeting all legal requirements for public hearings, public notices and publication of minutes of city meetings. Attached is a listing of what staff sees as options for continuing communication and the pros and cons of each. I would like to discuss these with you and receive your direction on which way to proceed. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Motion to direct staff to review, in more detail the option of re-establishing the production of a City Newsletter and designation of an official newspaper for 1993, bringing cost estimates to council on January 5, 1993. COUNCIL ACTION: �Y it O Rosemount PHONE (612) 4234411 2875 - 145th Street West. Rosemount, Minnesota MAYOR Edward S. McMenomy FAX (612) 4235203 Mailing Address: EMBERS P.O. Sox 510. Rosemount, Minnesota 550680510 . COSheft 1 asses Shelia Klaasen James (Red) Staats Harry Wittoox Dennis Wippermann ADMINISTRATOR Stephan Jitk TO: Mayor McMenomy Council Members: Klassen, Staats, Wil o ermann FROM: Stephan Jilk, City Administrator DATE: November 13, 1992 RE: Rosemount Newspaper / Newsletter Options In reviewing options for continuing communications with the Rosemount citizenry. I would suggest the following: Each of the companies to be contacted in regard to the production of a Rosemount newsletter/newspaper have something'to offer the City of Rosemount in regard to information dissemination.. Staff has compiled a listing of services provided by the companies contacted. Following this listing is a breakdown of each company's specific advantages/disadvantages in relation to the needs of the City of Rosemount. Those companies to be contacted include: Walker Enterprises, Minneapolis; Penn Graphics & Printing Company, Burnsville; THISWEEK Newspapers, Burnsville; Current Newspaper (Countryside), Burnsville; The Rosemount Town Pages, Rosemount; and the Farmington Independent, Farmington. Common Advantages 1. Basic information on City of Rosemount issues and events would be provided to citizens. 2. City of Rosemount staff would not have to format or edit articles prior to submission. 3. City of Rosemount staff would not have to fill the entire, page/publication, the editor would assist with fillers. (Svery1hings (Poming (Up (RosemounlY ew Common Disadvantages 1. City of Rosemount staff time would increase relative to the frequency of publication. 2. Production sales offices are not located within the Rosemount community (with the exception of the Rosemount Town Pages). 3. The City of Rosemount would incur communications/ publications costs in addition to those generated by any one of the following publications. A. Contact: Rent Wolkow, Walker Enterprises Minneapolis Cost: Quarterly = / year Monthly / year Circulation: All Rosemount -:Residents Production: Quarterly/Monthly Advantages: 1. Delivery by mail insures that every mailing address gets a copy. 2. News included is exclusively about Rosemount. 3. No advertising is involved unless that option is chosen. 4. Can meet the needs of the Parks & Recreation Department quarterly activity schedules. Disadvantages: 1. Quarterly production frequency may not be sufficient; information tends to be either outdated or so far in advance that it is lacking in detail. 2. Production period for each newsletter is long. 3. Cost for production is quite high. 4. City of Rosemount staff must perform all mailing procedures. 5. Cannot meet the needs of the City of Rosemount in regard to publishing City Council meeting minutes, special or timely announcements, public notices, etc. K, B. Contact: Brian Shea, Sales Penn Graphics & Printing Company- _..... - Burnsville Cost: Quarterly = / year ..Monthly = / year k Circulation: All Rosemount Residents Production: Monthly or quarterly with a one week ;. production schedule Advantages: 1. Delivery by mail insures that every household gets a copy. 2. News included is exclusively about Rosemount. 3. No advertising is involved unless that option is chosen. 4. Can meet the needs of the Parks & Recreation Department quarterly activity schedules. Disadvantages• 1. Again, this company is basically a printing company and as a result, a great deal.of staff involvement is required. 2. City of Rosemount staff must perform all mailing procedures. 3. Cannot meet the needs of the City of Rosemount in regard to publishing City Council meeting minutes, special or timely announcements, etc. Weekly Newspaper - Private City pays for space.utilized. C. Contact: Cost: Thisweek Newspaper Burnsville per page Quarterly = $ Monthly = $ Weekly = $ Circulation: All Rosemount Residents / year / year / year Production: Weekly (information due on Tuesday/Wednesday; Paper delivered on Saturday/Sunday) 3 Advantages 1. Readership is established. 2. Advertisers are established. 3. Can meet the needs of the City of Rosemount in regard to publishing City Council meeting minutes, special or timely announcements, etc. Disadvantages: 1. As papers are delivered by carrier, Thisweek cannot insure that the paper will reach every household. 2. News within the paper is not exclusively about Rosemount; even in the Rosemount issue, there is a good deal of Apple Valley news. 3. Advertising cannot be sold for the City of'Rosemount page in order to offset costs for that page. 4. People would have to become accustomed to looking for the City of Rosemount page as it would be inside of the Rosemount issue of the Thisweek paper. 5. Cannot meet the needs of the Parks & Recreation Department quarterly activity schedules. These schedules would have to be printed and mailed under separate a process. D. Contact:• Circulation Desk Countryside Burnsville Cost: per page Quarterly = $ / year Monthly = $ / year Weekly $ / year Circulation: households in the Rosemount area including Valley Park Production: Weekly Disadvantage: Would recommend this option not be considered 1. This option does not provide for every Rosemount household to receive a copy. E. Contact: Todd Heikkila, Owner/Editor Rosemount Town Pages Rosemount Cost: per page Quarterly = $ Monthly = $ 4 / year / year Weekly $ / Year Circulation: Subscription Available'to all Rosemount Residents,':�. Production: Weekly (news due on Tuesday, noon;paper delivered on Friday) Advantages: 1. Paper is available to all Rosemount Residents under subscription; City of Rosemount staff would not have to perform the,mailing procedures. Paper could be purchased at selected paper drops. 2. All news within the paper would pertain directly to Rosemount. 3. Staff time required for the "newsletter/communications process would be greatly diminished. 4. City of Rosemount meeting minutes could be published. 5. Can meet the needs of the Parks & Recreation Department quarterly activity schedules on a limited basis. 6. Readership is established. 7. City pays only for space taken as it is taken. Disadvantages: 1. Advertisers for such a publication are not yet established. 2. Cannot be designated as the City of Rosemount's legal newspaper (no legales or minutes can be printed) at this time. 3. Cannot meet the needs of the Parks & Recreation Department quarterly activity schedule distribution fully. 4. Using another newspaper for its "legal newspaper" status could cause confusion for residents. Notes 1. Returning to a City Newsletter seems to be the most stable and potentially the least costly approach to continuing communication with the public. 2. Re-establishing the City Newsletter and going to a monthly publication would add opportunity for additional "news" and would be more current than a quarterly issue. 3. As long as the Rosemount Town Pages is published with. current city news being printed on a weekly basis, a quarterly newsletter may be all that is necessary providing a cost savings and staff time savings. 4. Volunteer help could be utilized to a limited extent in A editing and preparation of a City Newsletter. This could reduce staff ,time but staff "coordination" would -still be necessary as the final product must be reviewed. 5. Allowing the use of the Rosemount Town Pages for "regular" news, a quarterly newsletter for special city news, the Farmington Independent for legal publications and city meeting minutes published in the Rosemount Town Pages may be the overall best approach. With further direction on which method to pursue we can put costs on which option to consider. A NEWSLETTER / NEWSPAPER ! OPTIONS COMMUNICATIONS EXPENSES SUMMARY OtITZINE COMMUNICATIONS 1. Newsletter/Newspaper Production 2. Parks & Recreation Schedules 3. Legal Notices & Minutes 4. Postage A. Walker Enterprises - Quarterly Production 1. Newsletter Production ................... $ 2. Parks & Recreation Schedules $ 3. Legal Notices & Minutes -in official paper $ 4. Postage (includes P & R Schedule)........ $ Total $ Walker Enterprises - Monthly Production 1. Newsletter Production ......... $ 2. Parks & Recreation Schedules $ 3. Legal Notices & Minutes -in official paper $ 4. Postage (includes P & R Schedule)........ $ Total $ B. Penn Graphics & Printing - Quarterly Production 1. Newsletter Production ..... $ 2. Parks & Recreation Schedules ............ $ 3. Legal Notices & Minutes -in official paper $ 4. Postage (includes P & R Schedule)........ $ Total 7 /yr /yr /yr /yr /yr /yr /yr /yr /yr /yr Penn Graphics & Printing - Monthly Production 1. Newsletter Production ........... ..... $ /yr 2. Parks & Recreation Schedules ... $ /yr 3. Legal Notices & Minutes -in official paper $ /yr 4. Postage (includes P & R Schedule)........ $ /yr Total $ C. Thisweek Newspapers - Monthly Page of City News Paper produced weekly 1. Newsletter Production ................... $ /yr 2. Parks & Recreation Schedules $ /yr 3. Legal Notices & Minutes -in official paper $ /yr 4. Postage (includes P & R Schedule)........ $ /yr Total $ D. Countryside 1. Newsletter Production ................... $ /yr 2. Parks & Recreation Schedules ............ $ /yr 3. Legal Notices & Minutes -in official paper $ /yr 4. Postage (includes P & R Schedule)........ $ /yr Total $ E. Rosemount Town Pages 1. Newsletter Production - City Page ....... $ /yr 2. Parks & Recreation Schedules ............ $ /yr 3. Legal Notices & Minutes -in official paper .$ /yr 4. Postage (includes P & R Schedule)-.....'....'. $ /yr Total $ NOTE: Current City of Rosemount policy is to publish the minutes of each Rosemount City Council Meeting in the City's "official newspaper". Because the Rosemount Newspaper could not be designated as Rosemount's "official newspaper" the City would have to continue to pay the cost of publication of the City meeting minutes.