East Bethel council considers outsourcing city newsletter to Prime Advertising; staff to report on color and ad options

City staff presented a proposal at the Dec. 22 work session to hire Prime Advertising and Design to manage East Bethel’s quarterly newsletter — handling layout, printing and mailing based on content the city supplies. Staff said in-house production has become difficult because of staff turnover and other time-sensitive duties.

Staff noted the last newsletter cost about $3,444 and estimated that outsourcing would increase annual costs by roughly $10,000 (about $2,500 more per quarterly issue). "It's very time consuming when someone submits an Adobe Illustrator file and you don't have that program to operate with," staff told the council, arguing that hiring a specialist could reduce staff burden and improve quality.

Multiple council members said a professionally designed, timely newsletter would better reach residents who do not follow meetings online. One council member said, "I think the professionalism and the way the city will come off to the residents will be much better." Council asked staff to check whether the new production would include color and whether advertising revenue could offset costs, and directed staff to return next month with those answers.

No formal vote was taken during the work session; council members expressed general agreement to pursue additional information and to consider the contract at a future meeting.