BOYLE – A proposed bylaw that would widen the advertising options available to the Village of Boyle passed its second reading, but not before councillors discussed ways to solidify the role of the local newspaper in the process.
During the Nov. 1 regular council meeting, Boyle councillors voted 5-0 in favour of the second reading of Bylaw 09-23, an advertising bylaw. The bylaw would allow the village to fulfill its MGA requirements through social media, its website, and the Alertable app.
Under the Municipal Government Act (MGA), municipalities are required to advertise certain notices — including public hearings, franchise fees, and bylaws — in the local paper, by mail, or by a selection of other methods, if a bylaw is in place.
“If, god forbid, an ad gets missed (in the paper), we wouldn’t have to (restart) the advertising process,” said village CAO Warren Griffin. “It gives us some redundancy, and it acts as a security blanket so that we still have that backup plan.”
Opposition to the bylaw came from Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association (AWNA) executive director Dennis Merrel and Town and Country publisher Tim Shoults, who both spoke to the role community newspapers fulfill, and why municipal advertising is important to the publishers.
“The Village of Boyle is the largest single advertiser from this community, with just under $6,900 in advertising in the last 12 months” said Shoults. “That revenue enables us to cover the expense of sending reporters from our newsroom in Athabasca to cover the community — not just village council and meetings but other stories affecting the community.”
According to Shoults, 155 stories from Boyle were featured on the Town and Country website, covering a variety of topics including the growth of Derko’s Service to a company of more than 100 employees, and the exploits of students, both past and present.
No changes anytime soon
Boyle councillors were adamant in their discussion that no one wanted to stop advertising in the paper.
“At this point, to hear (Merrel and Shoult’s) concerns, we all agree that we don’t want to achieve what they’re concerned about,” said Derko during the discussion after the hearing. “We still want to advertise in the paper, but what if we can’t? We got lucky (with a near miss).”
The MGA requires municipalities to post these notices for two weeks consecutively. During the village’s advertising period for its Municipal Development Plan (MDP) and Land-Use Bylaw (LUB), an ad didn’t make it into the paper. The village had started its ad campaign early enough that it didn’t need to postpone anything, but administration said it didn’t want to repeat the experience.
“It would’ve meant rescheduling the public hearings, and it would have meant delaying the MDP and the LUB by a month,” said Griffin.
Councillors agreed that they needed to go ahead with the bylaw, while also guaranteeing the role the paper would have in the village’s advertising. Councillors approved of an idea from Griffin to put a resolution of council in place.
“If we say something like ‘currently and moving forward, Boyle will budget, and as its primary notification method, shall advertise in the local paper,’ then that is (binding) and it covers the bylaw,” said Griffin.
The bylaw will be back before councillors for its final reading Nov. 15, and Griffin was directed to bring back wording for a follow-up motion at that time.
