09-18-23-WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 8 commission liaisons. She was fine with the deadline suggestion. She preferred the City Administrator have final say on what topics are included and the Council should provide feedback through the City Administrator or Council Liaison. She had no desire for Council to write articles. Final proofreading should be the best proofreader on staff. Final say before going to the printer should be the City Administrator. Councilmember Fabel said he doesn't feel he has prerogative over the content of the newsletter because of his role as liaison. He thought staff may feel it's useful to have a liaison but if not, he was OK with that too. Councilmember Holden explained that the reason there was a Council liaison was because it used to be a resident committee, and that person also wrote articles. Councilmember Monson added that if 10 issues a year gave them flexibility for one newsletter to cover one issue such as TCAAP or Public Works she was OK with it. She didn't have strong feelings about cutting the number down but would be OK with eight or something similar. Senior Communications Coordinator Cardona clarified there was no question about the number of issues we create but noted most neighboring cities do less. He noted that the way to shorten articles is to provide teasers in the newsletter and then direct readers online more information. He noted he could explore using QR codes instead of long links. Councilmember Rousseau mentioned that some people aren't able to get on the website or it's challenging for them, and QR codes are scary for others. She'd be open to other ideas such as a one -page issue just about TCAAP that's dropped off at the grocery store. Councilmember Holden noted that PTRC was a big part of the city, but so was Planning and Public Works. They also have a Parks and Recreation brochure that goes out so she didn't want the newsletter to turn into the PTRC advertisement. She would also like to see a mention about the unnamed grocery store. City Administrator Perrault said staff will potentially struggle with what Council might consider fluff, which could give reason to have a liaison. It is hard for the newsletter to be timely because it is typically three weeks past when decisions have been made. Councilmember Rousseau was looking forward to seeing how the SOP looks at the next meeting. Quicker paced items could be put on Facebook. Councilmember Holden asked if there would be something in the upcoming newsletter about voting for the school district. Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson said they typically have not included voting information for the school district but they could. It could also be a newsflash and on social media. She noted information about the school district election is on the City's website. Mayor Grant summarized that Council was pulling back from their involvement but they want to submit topics. Some would like staff to do the proofreading and others would like to participate. Most are against having a Council Liaison.