10-09-2019 Workshop & Council Packet

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Keis and Members of City Council FROM: Heidi Heller, City Clerk DATE: October 9, 2019 RE: Designate a New Legal Newspaper ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED: Designate a legal newspaper for the remainder of 2019. BACKGROUND: The City received notice on September 30, 2019 that Lillie Suburban Newspapers would no longer be publishing legal notices after October 2, 2019. The Roseville/Little Canada Review was the City’s longtime designated legal newspaper, so a new legal newspaper must be designated for the remainder of 2019. Staff has been reviewing other options for legal publications. There are no other community newspapers specific to Little Canada like the Review was, but there are three options for the Council to consider: Pioneer Press, Star Tribune and Press Publications. All three newspapers are available both online and in print versions, with the legal publications available online for anyone to view for free. The Pioneer Press and Star Tribune newspapers are the large publications that are well known and widely read. The Pioneer Press may be the more “local” paper of the two as it has a focus on St. Paul and the east metro areas, versus the Star Tribune is known as a Minneapolis and west metro focus. Both of these papers are published daily and legal publications can be published any day of the week. The Pioneer Press has indicated that their rate would stay the same through 2020. Their circulation numbers for Sunday and Daily Full Run are Sunday 182,902 and Daily 124,891. Staff was also contacted by the editor of the Press Publications, which publishes several community- specific newspapers, such as the weekly Vadnais Press and every other week Shoreview Press, among others. This newspaper is free to each city edition’s residents or is available as a paid subscription (this way you are guaranteed to receive it). They do not publish a Little Canada edition, although their Vadnais edition does reach slightly into Little Canada in the northwest corner. They have offered a lower rate since their delivery area for the free print copies does not reach most of Little Canada residents. State Statute requires publication in a newspaper for all public hearings. The preferred newspaper for a city’s publications is one that is located in that city and delivers to that city’s residents, otherwise it essentially is up to the Council’s discretion which newspaper to use as long as all of the Council members agree. All three of these options are a “qualified newspaper” per state statute. Information from the League of Minnesota Cities is attached regarding publication requirements.