9.a) Designate an Official Newspaper for 2012 Meeting Date: 1/17/2012
Agenda Item: (� a
, I
City Council Agenda Report
City of Scandia
14727 209th St. North
Scandia, MN 55073 (651) 433-2274
Action Requested: Designate an official newspaper for 2012.
Deadline/ Timeline: Statutory cities must designate an official newspaper at their annual
meeting.
Background: • The official newspaper is the paper designated for publication of
certain notices for meetings,hearings, elections and city finances
required by law.
• In a typical year, the city spends $1,500 to $3,000 to publish legal
notices. The 2012 budget is $2,500.
• Proposals were requested from the Forest Lake Times/ECM
Publishers (the current legal newspaper), the Country Messenger,
and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Proposals were received from the
Forest Lake Times and the Country Messenger. Their responses,
and a chart comparing the proposals, are attached.
• State law (Minn. Stat. 331A.02)provides specific qualifications an
official newspaper must meet. These are summarized in the
excerpt from a League of Minnesota Cities publication, attached.
• In 2010, the Country Messenger was designated the legal
newspaper after state law was changed to reduce the circulation
requirement from 500 to 400, and a legal issue with the location of
the office of issue was resolved.
• The Forest Lake Times was the official newspaper from 2007
through 2009, and in 2011.
Recommendation: I recommend that the Council designate the official newspaper for
2012.
Attachments/ • Comparison of Proposals
Materials provided: • Excerpt, "Newspaper Publications", League of Minnesota Cities
• Letter dated December 9, 2011 from ECM Publishers, Inc.
• Letter dated December 29, 2011 from the Country Messenger
Contact(s): Steve Ratjar, Forest Lake Times
651 464-4601
Randi Smith, Country Messenger
651 433-3845
Prepared by: Brenda Eklund, Deputy Clerk
(legal newspaper)
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I. Introduction
This memo discusses newspaper-publication requirements for cities.
Cities are required to give public notice for meetings and elections,as
well as certain information about elections and city finances.
Sometimes this information is required to be published. Sometimes it is
not required to be published,but cities choose to publish it to better
inform the public.
II. Newspapers in general
There are a wide variety of newspapers, from local city newsletters to
qualified newspapers.
A. Qualified newspapers
Minn.Stat.§331A.01,5uba.s. What is a qualified newspaper?When any of the following terms are
used in a statute that refers to the publication of public notice,they
refer to a"qualified newspaper":
• A qualified legal newspaper.
• A legal newspaper.
• An official newspaper.
• A newspaper.
• A medium of official and legal publication.
Minn.Stat.§331A.02,Suba. �. It should be noted that even though these terms are essentially
interchangeable,a newspaper must meet the following criteria in order
to be a qualified newspaper.
Minn.Stat.§331A.02,subd. 1(a). • It must be printed in English, in a newspaper format, and in a
column and sheet form equivalent in printed space to at least 1,000
square inches.
Minn.Stat.§331A.02,subd. 1(b). • If a daily paper, it must be distributed at least five days each week.
But in any week in which there is a legal holiday,not more than
four issues of a daily paper are necessary.
Minn.Stat.§331A.02,subd. 1(b). • If not a daily paper,it may be distributed twice a month with
respect to the publishing of government public notices.
Minn.Stat.§331 A.02,subd. 1(c). • In at least half of the issues each year, it must have no more than
75 percent of its printed space comprised of advertising material
and paid public notices.
NEWSPAPER PUBLICATION 3
M��.stac.§3siA.o2,subd. 1(c). • In all of its issues each year,25 percent(if published more often
than weekly)or 50 percent(if published weekly)of its news
columns must be devoted to news of local interest to the
community it serves.
Minn.Stat.§331A.02,subd. 1(c). • Not more than 25 percent of its total non-advertising coluxnn
inches in any issue may wholly duplicate any other publication,
unless the duplicated material is from general-news services.
Minn.Stat.§331A.02,subd. 1(d). • It must be circulated in the local political subdivision which it
purports to serve, and either have at least 400 copies regularly
delivered to paying subscribers or have at least 400 copies
regularly distributed without charge to local residents. If the city
has a population of less than 1,300, only 250 copies need to be
regularly delivered to paying subscribers or regularly distributed
without charge to local residents.
Mt�.sc�c.§s3�a.oz,subd. 1(e). • It must have its known office of issue established in either the
county in which it lies(in whole or in part), in the city that the
newspaper purports to serve, or in an adjoining county.
Minn.Stat.§331A.02,subd. 1(�. • The newspaper must file a copy of each issue immediately with the
state historical society.
Minn.Stat.§331A.02,subd. 1(g). • It must be made available at single or subscription prices to any
person or entity requesting the newspaper and making the
applicable payment,or be distributed without charge to local
residents.
Minn.Stat.§331A.02,5uba. i�,�. . It must have complied with all of the above requirements for at
least one year immediately preceding the date of the notice of
publication.
Minn.Stat.§331A.02,subd.1(i). • It must publish a sworn U.S.Post Office periodicals-class
statement of ownership and circulation. This must be done between
Sept. 1 and Dec. 31 of each year. As an alternative,the newspaper
may publish a statement of ownership and circulation verified by a
recognized independent circulation auditing agency covering a
period of not less than one year, ending no earlier than the June 30
preceding the publication deadline.
Minn.Stat.§331A.02,suba.i�). . It must submit a filing to the secretary of state containing the
newspaper's name, address of its known o�ce of issue,telephone
number,and a statement that the newspaper has complied with all
of the above requirements. The filing must be made after the
publication but before Dec. 31 (see discussion in previous bulleted
item). The filing must include a$25 filing fee.
4 LEAGUE OF MINNESOTA CITIES
B. Designating a newspaper
M��.sr�c.§ss�a.o6,suba.s. A city generally designates an official newspaper. The city publishes
notice in the official newspaper to inform the public of the city's
activities. Cities are authorized to enter into multi-year contracts with a
qualified newspaper for publication of public notices.No multi-year
contract may be for longer than three years.
1. Statutory cities
tvl��.sc�c.§aiz.s3�. Statutory city councils must designate an official newspaper at the first
meeting each year. The official newspaper is used for the publication
of ordinances and other matters that are legally required to be
published. The official newspaper should also be used for the
publication of any other matters that the council deems to be in the
public interest. The official newspaper must be a legal newspaper of
general circulation in the city.
A.G.Op.471-G(Mar. 19,i96z�. The attorney general has said that a statutory city may change its
designation of an official newspaper at times other than the first
meeting of the year.
2. All cities
Minn.Stat.§331A.04,subd. �. When a city designates an official newspaper, it must choose the
newspaper in the following priority:
Minn.Stat.§331A.04,suba.2. . If there are one or more qualified newspapers with their offices of
issue located in the city,one of these newspapers must be chosen.
Minn.Stat.§331A.04,subd.3. • If there is no qualified newspaper with a known office of issue in
the city,but one or more qualified newspapers maintain a
secondary office in the city,one of these newspapers must be
chosen.
Minn.Stat.§331A.04,subd.4. � If there is no qualified newspaper with a known office of issue or a
secondary office in the city,then a qualified newspaper of general
circulation must be chosen.
Minn.Stat.§331A.04,Suba.s. . If the city is without an official newspaper or the publisher refuses
to publish a particular public notice, a qualified newspaper of
general circulation must be designated.
Minn.Stat.§331A.04,subd.5. � If the city has territory in two or more counties,the council may
designate a separate qualified newspaper for each county.
Minn.Stat.§331A.03,subd. 1. • If no qualified newspaper exists,publication is not required.
Minn.Stat.§331A.04,suba.6. There is an exception to the designation priority discussed above. The
city may designate any newspaper as its official newspaper if the
following conditions are met:
NEWSPAPER PUBLICATION 5
• The newspaper is a qualified newspaper.
• The publisher of the newspaper furnishes a sworn statement,
verified by a recognized independent circulation auditing agency,
covering a period of at least one year ending no earlier than 60
days before designation for the newspaper,which states that the
newspaper's circulation reaches no fewer than 75 percent of the
households within the city.
• The newspaper has provided regular coverage of the proceedings
of the governing body of the city and will continue to do so.
• The governing body votes unanimously to designate the
newspaper.
A.G.Op.341-B-23(Jan.30,1959); The attorney general has said that a city cannot designate more than
Minn.Stat.§331 A.OS,subd.5; one official newspaper. Even though a city cannot designate more than
See also Part N-section C one official newspaper,the statutes pernut publishing notices in
Publishing in additional additional newspapers to better inform the public.
newspapers.
3. Home rule charter cities
Home rule charter cities may have additional designation criteria in
their charters. Officials from these cities should check the city's charter
for other requirements.
III. Publication requirements
See Part IV-section A What cities Cities are subject to a variety of publication requirements. This section
"'usr publ`Sh. discusses the more general requirements that apply to publications. A
later section of this memo addresses specific requirements for
particular types of city notices.
A. Published notice
Mir�.scac.§6as.�i. When a statute refers to"published notice"it means publication in full
of the notice in the regular issue of a qualified newspaper once each
week for the number of weeks specified.
B. Where items must be published
Minn.Stat.§331A.03,subd. �. All public notices generally must be published in a qualified
newspaper that is likely to give notice in the affected area or to the
persons to whom the notice is directed.
Minn.Stat.§331A.03,subd.�. When an item is required to be published in a newspaper that is located
in a city and no qualified newspaper is located in that city,the
publication must be made in a qualified newspaper that is likely to give
notice unless a particular statute provides otherwise. If no qualified
newspaper exists,publication is not required.
( LEAGUE OF MINNESOTA CITIES
E �� /( ECM Publishers, Inc.
r 1� 880 SW 15th Street • Forest Lake, MN 55025-1381
464-4601 • Fax 464-4605
FOREST LAKE ------ ------
; ---��������---
DEC -� �011
CITY OF SCAfvD(!�, �
` ------- -_. __._ �
December 09, 2011
Ms. Anne Hurlburt, City Administrator
City of Scandia
14727 209`h St.
Scandia,MN 55073
Dear Ms. Hurlburt:
The Forest Lake Times would like to bid for legal printing status as the designated
Official Newspaper for the City of Scandia. The Forest Lake Times is qualified by the
State of Minnesota as a Legal Newspaper under Minnesota Statutes Section 331A.02,
subd. 1(i).
The bid to publish legal notices in the Forest Lake Times for the year 2012 will be $6.55
per column inch with 6 point type and 11 lines per inch. The notice will also be posted on
our website, www.forestlaketimes.com/publicnotices.html for all to view for free and at
no charge to the city. The current circulation is about 13,690, including 1,100 households
from the 55073 zip code which are delivered by route carriers to the black tubes. We
would prefer legal notices emailed to legals.cbflnb@ecm-inc.com. Our deadline is at 4:00
p.m. on Monday for Thursday publication.
We look forward to continuing to serve the residents of the City of Scandia.
Sincerely,
�r
�'� � �;� �
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Steve Rajtar
Manager
Forest Lake Times
Publishers of.•
The Times • St. Croix Valley Peach • ECM Post Review • Commercial Web Printing
Convention News • Community Guides
Country Newspaper & Office Supplies
e ss e n � � 6501-433 3845• FAX 7 5N 5503314
Serving Marine-On-St.Croix,Scandia,May Township Office located at 108 Cascade St., Osceola W I
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Brenda Eklund `���� �� 2�S�
City of Scandia
P.O. Box 128 CITY CF SCAND!P, ,
Scandia, MN 55073
December 29, 2011
Dear Ms. Eklund,
Thank you for contacting the Country Messenger to ask us to submit a proposal for the legal pub-
lications for the City of Scandia. Our newspaper focuses more time and personnel to the commu-
nity than any other news organization in the area, as I hope you would agree, so we are hopeful
that we will be named the newspaper of record for Scandia, Minnesota.
In answer to your questions concerning The Country Messenger:
l.0ur publication prints on Tuesday and is home delivered on Wednesday; deadline for
content would need to be submitted by Friday at noon.
2. The rate is $4.00 per column inch.
3. The type size used is 7 pt and there are 9lines per inch.
4. Our total circulation is 1034 and Scandia's circulation is 443.
5. Distribution is through the USPS and the following newsstand locations, Big
Marine Store, Old Town Liquor, Todd's Home Center and Marine General Store
in Marine on St. Croix, Scandia Store and The Sun office in Osceola,Wisconsin.
6.The Country Messenger is the official newspaper for Marine on St. Croix and
Washington County, Minnesota.
I hope this answers all your questions, but if not, please give me a call.
Sincerely,
\���-��- i �� (.>�7;Z L,{-,��.
� �._
Randi Smith
Publisher
Country Messenger