The City of St. John’s is pondering its ad account with The Telegram amid recent downsizing of the newspaper from a daily to weekly publication.
The issue arose at yesterday’s council meeting when the public hearing for a townhouse development was delayed due to changes in the paper’s publishing schedule.
While that was a one-off, it triggered strong views on the value of The Telegram to the community versus its future worth to the city.
Councillor Ron Ellsworth noted there’s no real effect on the city in the short term, other than the day it’s published, while others suggested it’s time to move on and explore other options.
But as city solicitor Cheryl Mullett noted, there still exists an “unfortunate” requirement to advertise in the paper.
“So, we’ll have to sort of work through that issue, practically speaking, to determine what the best, next steps are,” she told the public council meeting. “But that is unfortunately a requirement and we have to try to deal with that in the most appropriate way possible.”
The application for a group of townhouses next to Bishops Gardens on New Pennywell Road would see a total of 32 affordable units created for seniors.
The public hearing is now set for Oct. 2nd, instead of the original date of Sept. 25th.