Stillwater, Oak Park Heights, Washington County Select 'Newspapers of Record'

Stillwater, Oak Park Heights and Washington County on Tuesday designated their “official newspapers” for 2013 legal publications.

State law requires that certain notices of city and county business be published in local newspapers. It is estimated that placing the legal notices in the newspapers will cost Washington County $30,000 in 2013.

Debate around the topic of mandating governmental entities to publish legal notices in official newspapers—as oppose to publishing legals online on their own websites—has been brewing for years, as this MinnPost article reads: Time for Minnesota Governments to Stop Public-Notice Ads in Newspapers? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Here’s a list of proposals for publication of legal notices in the Stillwater area:

Stillwater

The Stillwater City Council is expected to pass a resolution naming the Stillwater Gazette as the “official newspaper” in 2013, as well as sign a contract with the Pioneer Press for legal notices that cannot be published in the Gazette due to deadlines.

The Gazette proposed a rate of $4.25 per column inch for the first insert, and $3.40 per inch for subsequent insertions of the same legal notice.

The Pioneer Press proposed a rate of $4.60 per line (or about 22-25 characters).

Press Publications also submitted a bid of $7.10 per inch.

Oak Park Heights

The Oak Park Heights City Council is also expected to designate the Stillwater Gazette for the publication of it’s legal publications in 2013.

The proposed rate to run Oak Park Heights public notices in the Gazette is $4.35 per column inch, according to a memo the paper’s Publisher Mark Berriman wrote to the council.

Press Publications requested that “The Lowdown-St. Croix Valley Area” be considered the city’s “official newspaper” in 2013, according to city records. The paper proposed a rate of $7.10 per column inch.

Washington County

On Tuesday, Washington County agreed to publish a Summary of Proceedings, Delinquent Real Estate notices, the first publication of the Financial Statement, and Legal Notices in Lillie Newspapers; the second publication of the Financial Statement will be published in the Stillwater Gazette.

It is estimated that placing the notices in the newspapers will cost the county $30,000 in 2013.

Washington County also designated the county’s website as the official publication for transportation projects.