ST. PAUL - The Town of St. Paul discussed how it distributes information to residents in two separate items during the Jan. 22 regular council meeting.
First, council carried second and third readings of its Advertising Bylaw. A public hearing held on Jan. 8 resulted in council sending the bylaw back to administration for amendments, which were then presented at the Jan. 22 meeting.
The initial proposal of the bylaw removed the requirement for the municipality to advertise public notices in the local newspaper, Lakeland This Week.
Following presentations by those opposed to the bylaw as it had been presented, council discussed the possibility of still including the local newspaper in the bylaw, but changing the required advertising time to one week worth of advertising, instead of two weeks.
"It is not administration's intention with any new bylaw or policy to cause any undue hardship on the public and/or an existing local business," said Director of Planning and Legislative Service Aline Brousseau, as she presented the amended bylaw to council.
Brousseau also noted that "transparency" is "one of council's desired outcomes within the Strategic Plan," and "As a result, administration acknowledges this when drafting new bylaws/policies."
Brousseau said administration did look at how other municipalities have approached advertising requirements, noting that bylaws vary among municipalities.
Coun. Nathan Taylor made a motion to give second reading to the bylaw, as amended, noting that he felt staff had done a good job of the rewrite and struck a balance.
A motion by Coun. Norm Noel for third reading of the bylaw was also approved.
The Advertising Bylaw is specific to "public notices" that must be advertised, as per the Municipal Government Act. It does not deal with other advertising the Town does.
RELATED STORY - Town of St. Paul postpones decision on Advertising Bylaw following pubic hearing
Later in the meeting the topic of advertising came back to the table.
According to information presented to council, advertising for administration was reduced within the 2024 interim budget, which anticipates pausing some advertising in the local newspaper, such as a monthly advertisement called "Town Talk," and other advertising with media in the region.
"Administration is suggesting that a survey be created with the intent of gathering public input on how they are accessing Town information," said Brousseau. Administration proposed that the survey be posted on social media, the Town's website, the Town's app, and a posting at the reception area of townhall.
Mayor Maureen Miller and Coun. Noel both expressed concern about the approach, noting that the results would be skewed since the survey would primarily be reaching people who were active online, and not people who access Town information in other ways, such as the printed newspaper.
Miller acknowledged that conducting a survey was an idea she supported, and she would like to know how people are accessing information. Discussions about sending the survey out in utility bills that are sent in the mail also took place, along with placing the survey in the newspaper.
A motion to proceed with a survey asking residents, through a variety of methods, how they access Town information was carried.
