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<br />City needs to make a determination of whether to charge this back against the remaining Letter <br />of Credit. She stated that this issue still needs quite a bit of discussion. <br /> <br />Human Resources Manager Kone' stated that the 2009 proposed budget includes an expected <br />increase in utilities and gasoline for the City vehicles. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jeffrey arrived at the meeting. <br /> <br />Human Resources Manager Kone' stated that there isa proposed increase of about $2,000 in the <br />newsletter budget for 2009. She noted that there is a reduction in postage costs, but an increase <br />in printing costs. <br /> <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that he would like some feedback from the Council on a <br />possible new way to do the City newsletter. He showed an example of Elk River's newsletter, <br />which is full color and funded by advertising dollars, so the City has no costs. He stated that he <br />met with Prime Advertising who creates the newsletters for Elk River, Maple Grove and <br />Champlin. He stated that they. also do a resource guide for communities and noted that Ramsey <br />would probably need to have a joint guidebook with Anoka. He reiterated that there is no cost <br />for the City, but that Prime Advertising gets all the advertising revenue. He stated that the only <br />cost for the City will be postage and distribution costs. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec stated that he didn't think it would hurt to take a look, but when the newsletter <br />first began, advertising was included and people didn't like it. He stated that this approach <br />seems to be more popular and he feels that the City would have better control of the content if it <br />continued to do it ourselves. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen stated that he likes the fact that this would reduce costs for the City, <br />however, he sees that there may be problems with what the perception is when people get a <br />newsletter with advertising. He asked what would happen if a political candidate placed an ad in <br />the City newsletter. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec stated that he didn't think that you can put political ads in City newsletters. <br /> <br />"- <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that he believes the City can impose guidelines on what types of <br />ads can be allowed. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen stated that he didn't think you could put limits on this and thought you <br />had to give everyone a fair shake. <br /> <br />Councilmember Strommen stated that she finds the advertising annoying. <br /> <br />Councilmember Look stated that this business appears to be lucrative for companies like Prime <br />Advertising and suggested that perhaps the City should consider selling advertising for the <br />newsletter on our own rather than hiring an outside company. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session I Monday, August 18,2008 <br />Page 5 of 12 <br />