Cost to municipalities, decline of local newspapers listed among reasons for stated change It wasn’t discussed as a top priority at the legislative agenda meeting prior to January 19 Council at …
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Cost to municipalities, decline of local newspapers listed among reasons for stated change
It wasn’t discussed as a top priority at the legislative agenda meeting prior to January 19 Council at City Hall, but public notices and citizen awareness could suffer if an item contained in the 2022 Cottage Grove Legislative Agenda gains traction at the State Capitol.
Currently contracting with the Saint Paul Pioneer Press at a set rate of 47 cents per line to keep area residents informed regarding its municipal affairs, the City of Cottage Grove would request the state legislature to repeal the newspaper notice requirement enshrined in Chapter 331of State law, not as a front-seat priority item on the agenda but nevertheless present, being linlcuded on page 22 out of 22 in the City’s Legislative Agenda.
“Priority: Set the most efficient newspaper notice requirement,” the 2022 legislative agenda packet for Cottage Grove read on page 22 out of 22 under the ‘Administration’ heading. Citing “the cost to municipalities, decline of local newspapers, and the increase and proliferation of technology information tools,” the City requests the Legislature to repeal the newspaper notice requirement.
Following its recommendation on newspaper notice is a final one requesting the Legislature to implement a statewide licensing system for massage therapists, “ensuring that minimum competency requirements are met.”
Following adjournment of the 6 p.m. legislative agenda meeting which focused, nostalgic talk was overheard from some attendees of the “high quality journalism” of ages past, defined in part as having “no typos.” As to newspaper notice efficiency, meanwhile, there’s a website, brought to citizens of Minnesota via their local newspapers, a trusted source of community news.
“We are a public service made possible by the newspapers of Minnesota,” www. mnpublicnotice.com states of its easy search function allowing users to find notices from across the state. As to non-internet users there’s still the printed sheet for such notices, at least for now.
State law, requires public notice.
