[Massplanners] Legal Advertisements for Planning Board and ZBA Hearings

[John Charbonneau]

It is ridiculous to ask an applicant to pay upwards of $200-300 simply for
a legal ad that runs twice!  Luckily the Patriot-Ledger agreed to allow
Stoughton to continue to pay the previous rate for a period of 1 year, but
it will come to an end soon enough.

*John M. Charbonneau*
Town Planner
10 Pearl Street
Stoughton, MA 02072
(781) 341-1300 x9201


On Wed, Mar 23, 2022 at 11:06 AM Matthew Benoit via MassPlanners <
massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:

> 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
>
> 978-540-2460
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* MassPlanners <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
> *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
>
> *Acta non verba*
>
>
> --
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>
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