HomeMy WebLinkAbout15.F.4. Designation of Official Newspaper
IS: F. 'f.
CITY OF SHAKOPEE
Memorandum CONSENT
TO: Mayor and City Council
Mark McNeill, City Administrator
FROM: Judith S. Cox, City Cler~
SUBJECT: Designation of Official Newspaper
DATE: December 30, 2003
INTRODUCTION:
City Council is asked to designate the official newspaper for 2004.
BACKGROUND:
The City is required by law to publish certain matters in its official newspaper, during the course of
the year. We publish the Council minutes (motions primarily), Ordinances, Resolutions when
required by law, notices of public hearings on planning matters and public improvement projects,
and advertisements for bids. It is appropriate that this designation be made at this time.
To be qualified as a medium of official and legal publication, a newspaper must meet certain
qualifications set forth by State law. To name a few, it must distribute the paper at least once a
week for 50 weeks out of the year; be circulated in the local public corporation which it purports to
serve, and either have at least 500 copies regularly delivered to paying subscribers, or have at least
500 copies regularly distributed without charge to local residents; have its known office of issue
established either in the county in which it lies in whole or in part, the local public corporation
which the newspaper purports to serve, or in an adjoining county; file a copy of each issue
immediately with the state historical society.
As long as I can remember, the Shakopee Valley News has been the City's official newspaper.
The City has received the attached letter from Mr. Rolfsrud asking that the City consider appointing
the Shakopee Valley News as its official newspaper.
The 2004 charge for legal notices will be $10.85 per column inch. Previous years charges for legal
notices were:
2003- $1 0.63/column inch for 1 sl insertion
2002 - $1O.23/column inch for 1st insertion
2001 - $9.75/column inch for 1st insertion
2000 - $9.25/column inch for 1st insertion
Designation of Official Newspaper
December 30, 2003
Page -2-
During the middle of 1997, the City began submitting legal notice copies on floppy disk, which
resulted in a cost savings because the Shakopee Valley News staff did not have to retype the notices
for publication in the newspaper. In 1999 we began transmitting our legal notices bye-mail. The
2004 charge for legal notices submitted in this manner will be $7.16 per column inch, reflecting a
33% cost savings to the City. (The cost to publish in the Star Tribune or Pioneer Press would be
five to six times the cost to publish in the Shakopee Valley News).
The City has budgeted $25,000 for 2004 for legal publications.
The City has had a very good working relationship with the Shakopee Valley News. They have
been very accommodating in publishing notices that were sent to them after their deadline and have
published them whenever possible. They have published items at no charge in their "Brief' section
as well as press releases. They have also written articles on matters when requested to get the word
out.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Move to designate the Shakopee Valley News as the official newspaper for the City of Shakopee
for the year 2004.
i;c1erk\judy\SVN-OFFi
DEC-30-2003 10:27 SW SUBURBRN,FUEL ':;l::>~44::>,j,j,j::> t-'.~~
Shakq:>ee 'Vell,ley __5 :
-
December 26, 2003
Ms. Judy Cox, City Clerk
City of Shakopee
129 Holmes Street
Shakopee, MN 55379 . "
"
Dear Ms. Cox,
Please consider our request for appointment of the Shako pee Valley News as the official newspaper for the City of "
Shakopee in 2004.
Legal notices published in the Shakopee Valley News during this time pciri.od, will be billed at tlfe rate of $1 0.85 per
column inch for the first insertion and $8.25 per column inch per sub.sequent insertions.
The city can again take advantage of a lower rate if it submits le~l notice copy electronically via e-mlli\.
Publication copy must be submitted in a generic, text format and readaple by our IBM compatible word proces-
sors. This system worked well in past years and allows for a substan,ti31 Jabor savings if the Shakopee VaJJey
News staff does not have to retype the notices prior to them being published in the newspaper. ,E,..mailed legals
should be sent to: legal@swpub.com. The rate for the materials submitted in this manner would be $7.16 per
column inch, reflecting a 33% cost savings to the City of Shakopee.
We also wish to notify you that on January 8, 2004, we will be conv~ing all of our newspape~s to a narrower :
page, the current standard in the newspaper industry. Consequently~ our new column width will be slightly
reduced from its present size, going from 2 inches to 1.8 inches. In an effort to reduce any increase in cost this
may cause our legal notice customers, we will also change the type fj.)nt that is used in producing these pages.
The new type is condensed, and after running multiple tests comparin'g it to our current style, we are confident
the space needs will be nearly identicaL Consequently, with the additional discount being offered to you in 2004,
the city could actually see a reduction in publishing costs of its legal hotices. We recognize that financial chal-
lenges are being faced by most govemment branches, and feel very st~oogly that the publishing of legal notices
in the newspaper is of vital importance to local residents who wish to stay informed about the important deci-
sions being made by your elected body. We welcome the opportunity to partner in that process.
Most standard legal notices (those without maps, graphics or special ~~l?u1ar information) submitted by the City
of Shakopee will continue to be posted on our newspaper website, www.shakopeenews.com, free of charge.
Our legal notice deadline is at 4 p.m. on Thursday, preceding the fpllowing week's publication date; during
holiday weeks the deadline may be advanced.
:
enclosure
,
327 Marschall Road, Suite 125' Post Office Box 8. Shakopa8, Minnesota 55379 · (952) 445.3333
TOTRL P.02