HomeMy WebLinkAbout5.e. City Newsletter / Newspaper OptionsCITY OF ROSEMOUNT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR ACTION
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: NOVEMBER 17, 1992
AGENDA ITEM: CITY NEWSPAPER/NEWSLETTER
AGENDA SECTION:
OPERATIONS CONSIDERATION
OLD BUSINESS
PREPARED BY: STEPHAN JILK, CITY ADMINISTRATOR
AGEND[MM
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ATTACHMENTS: MEMO
APP BY:
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 December 15, 1992.
COUNCIL ACTION:
i� o osemou
n'
PHONE (612) 4234411 2675 • 145th Street West, Rosemount, Minnesota
FAX (612) 4235203 Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 510, Rosemount, Minnesota 55068-0510
TO: Mayor McMenomy
Council Members: Klassen, Staats,AWilJ
FROM: Stephan Jilk, City Administratorpi
DATE: November 13, 1992
RE: Rosemount Newspaper / Newsletter Opti
In reviewing options for continuing communicati
Rosemount citizenry I would suggest the followi
Each of the companies to be contacted in regard
of a Rosemount newsletter/newspaper have somethi
City of Rosemount in regard to information disse
has compiled a listing of services provided by t
contacted. Following this listing is a breakdow
company's specific advantages/disadvantages in r
needs of the City of Rosemount.
Those companies to be contacted include: Walken
Minneapolis; Penn Graphics & Printing Company,
THISWEEK Newspapers, Burnsville; Current Newspa
(Countryside), Burnsville; The Rosemount Town Pa
and the Farmington Independent, Farmington.
Common Advantages
1. Basic information on City of Rosemount iss
would be provided to citizens.
2. City of Rosemount staff would not have to
articles prior to submission.
3. City of Rosemount staff would not have to
page/publication, the editor would assist
(Sverylking`s coming (Up Rosemou
A
MAYOR
Edward B. MoMenomy
COUNCILMEMSERS
Sheila YJassen
James (Red) Staats
Harry Wiiloox
Dennis Wippermann
ADMINISTRATOR
Stephan Jilk
with the
o the production
g 'to offer the
ination. Staff
e companies
of each
lation to the
Enterprises,
urnsville;
er
, Rosemount;
and events
ormat or edit
ill the entire•
ith fillers.
Common Disadvantages
1.
2.
3.
A.
City of Rosemount staff time would increase relative to the
frequency of publication.
Production sales offices are not located within the
Rosemount community (with theexceptionof the Rosemount
Town Pages)
The City of Rosemount would incur communications/
publications costs in addition to those generated by any one
of the following publications.
Contact: Kent 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.
2
B. Contact• Brian Shea Sales
,
Penn Graphics & Printing Company
Burnsville
Cost: Quarterly = / year
Monthly = / year
Circulation: All Rosemount Residents
Production: Monthly or quarterly with alone 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.I
C. Contact: Thisweek Newspaper
Burnsville
Cost• per page
Quarterly = $ / year
Monthly = $ / year
Weekly = $ f year
Circulation: All Rosemount Residents
Production: Weekly (information due on rPuesday/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 = $ / year
Monthly = $ / year
4
Circulation:
Production:
Advantages:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Weekly = $
Subscription - Available to
Residents
Weekly (news due on Tuesday,,
delivered on Friday)
year
1 Rosemount
noon; paper
Paper is available to all Rosemount Residents under
subscription; City of Rosemount staff would not have to
perform the mailing procedures. Papericould be
purchased at selected paper drops.
All news within the paper would pertain directly to
Rosemount.
Staff time required for the "newsletter/communications"
process would be greatly diminished.
City of Rosemount meeting minutes could be published.
Can meet the needs of the Parks & Recreation Department
quarterly activity schedules on a limited basis.
Readership is established.
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 Rolsemount'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
5
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.
S. 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.
2
NEWSLETTER /NEWSPAPER OPTIO
COMMUNICATIONS EXPENSES
SUMMARY OUTLINE
COMMUNICATIONS
1. Newsletter/Newspaper Producti
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 pap
4. Postage (includes P & R Schedule)......
Total
er $
E
/yr
/yr
/Yr
/yr
Walker Enterprises - 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
$
B. Penn Graphics & Printing - Quarterly 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
$
7
Penn Graphics & Printing - Monthly Production
1. Newsletter Production ................... $
2. Parks & Recreation Schedules ............. $
3. Legal Notices & Minutes -in official paper $
4. Postage (includes P & R Schedule)........ $
Total $
C. Thisweek Newspapers - Monthly Page of City News
Paper produced weekly
1. Newsletter Production $
2. Parks & Recreation Schedules ............ $
3. Legal Notices & Minutes -in official paper $
4. Postage (includes P & R Schedule)........ $
Total $
D. Countryside
1. Newsletter Production ................. $
2. Parks & Recreation Schedules ............ $
3. Legal Notices & Minutes -in official paper $
4. Postage (includes P & R Schedule)........ $
Total $
E. Rosemount Town Pages
1. Newsletter Production - City Page ....... $
2. Parks & Recreation Schedules $
3. Legal Notices & Minutes -in official paper $
4. Postage (includes P & R Schedule)........ $
Total $
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
/yr
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.
L