[Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and ZBA Hearings

[Matthew Benoit]

One major issue we all have for the Worcester T&G; even though billing for us has been OK, people can’t even view the legal ad online without paying for a membership.

Matthew C. Benoit, Notary Public
Director of Community Development
Town of Douglas
29 Depot Street
Douglas, MA 01516
508-476-4000  x206
www.douglas-ma.gov

From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> On Behalf Of Joseph Laydon via MassPlanners
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2022 10:56 AM
To: Kristina Johnson <kjohnson at townofhudson.org>; massplanners at masscptc.org
Subject: Re: [Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and ZBA Hearings

Kristina,

You forgot one important point; these consolidated media entities can’t figure out billing.  So not only are the costs high, but we are constantly calling to straighten out billing issues.

We may be at a tipping point where planners and towns start asking our legislatures to remove the newspaper requirements and to rely on posting on town websites.  Even moving from planning to administration, I continue to be frustrated by the changing costs and billing errors.

Joe

_________________________________
Joseph Laydon
Town of Littleton
Assistant Town Administrator
37 Shattuck Street
Littleton, MA 01460
jlaydon at littletonma.org<mailto:jlaydon at littletonma.org>
978-540-2460



From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org>> On Behalf Of Kristina Johnson via MassPlanners
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2022 10:44 AM
To: massplanners at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners at masscptc.org>
Subject: [Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and ZBA Hearings



**THIS EMAIL WAS SENT BY AN EXTERNAL SENDER**
Hello Friends and Colleagues,

I am curious to know if any of you are having an issue with legal advertisements, as many local and regional newspapers either being consolidated by large corporate media entities,  have a completely online presence, or have changed their billing policies. Both in Hudson and in Framingham (where I serve on the PB), the regional newspaper, the MetroWest Daily News is requiring “pre-payment” for all legal advertisements instead of the traditional third-party billing method.  Thankfully in Hudson we have another newspaper that publishes locally, although their deadlines completely changed our submission deadlines for PB ZBA, as they only publish once a week.  In Framingham, the only other local newspaper is 100% online,  so Framingham will most likely have to raise fees for application filings to cover the pre-payment in order to ensure the provisions of 40A Section 11 are met. I should note that legal advertisements are not cheap!

What a headache!  Anyone else facing this issue?

Best,
Kristina






Kristina Johnson, AICP
Director of Planning & Community Development
Town of Hudson,  MA
President, Mass. Association of Planning Directors
Tel: 978-562-2989
Cell:  857-939-3427
Email: kjohnson at townofhudson.org<mailto:kjohnson at townofhudson.org>
Acta non verba

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