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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8A - Wavelength Publishing DATE: INTRODUCTION: BACKGROUND: DISCUSSION: STAFF AGENDA REPORT '7 8A . '1:\~ FRANK BOYLES, CITY MANAGER) / \\ /) CONSIDER RESOLUTION 93-103 -AWARDING PROPOSAL FOR PRINTING AND PUBLISHING THE WAVELENGTH AND RECREATION BROCHURE FOR 1994 - 1996 November 15.1993 The 1994 General Fund Budget contemplates improvements to the Wavelength Newsletter. First, the frequency will increase from three to four issues per year. Second, the Recreation Brochure will be incorporated as part of the newsletter to increase resident interest and save some of the production costs. Finally, newsletter topics are expected to expand to include brief articles about the school district, Dakota community and county to provide one stop information for Prior Lake taxpayers. Historically, the newsletter has been prepared by having staff draft a list of topic areas. An outside consultant then interviewed staff members and prepared draft articles based upon the interview results. Staff would then redraft the articles to assure completeness and accuracy. The redrafts would be returned to the consultant for layout in the newsletter. The consultant would work with the printer to have it printed. The printer would return the newsletter to the City, staff would count out the newsletter by mail carrier route and deliver the newsletters to the post office for distribution to the public. Because of the anticipated improvements in the newsletter, I felt it would be a good time to prepare a request for proposal for newsletter and Recreation Brochure publication for the next three years. The Request For Proposal (RFP) contemplates the centralization of the newsletter preparation process. Under the RFP, the provider would be responsible for coordinating all activities from beginning to the end of the newsletter production until the document was delivered to the post office. Under the RFP the Recreation Brochure would continue to be drafted by City staff and would simply be laid out by the provider. Request For Proposals were distributed to nine providers, two of whom are located in Prior Lake, and four of whom are in Scott or Dakota County. Three proposals were received. Only Award Printing submitted a proposal as contemplated by the RFP. It was -1- 4629 Dakota S1. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372 I Ph. (612) 447-4230 I Fax (612) 447-4245 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLDYER I the only proposal that included complete writing, printing and mail handling for the newsletter. The proposal from Award Printing amounts to about $5,900 per issue, assuming a six page newsletter, a four page recreation brochure, halftones (photos), and mailing costs. Multiplied times four issues, the total yearly cost would be $23,600.00 exclusive of postage. The other proposals received were limited to printing only, or creative writing only. Joe Adams who is presently preparing the City's newsletter draft quoted approximately $1900 per issue for his services based upon a six page newsletter, four page recreation brochure, half tones and mailing costs. Apple Printing quoted $2268.10 per issue assuming ten pages, (six page newsletter plus four page recreation brochure including four half tones). Taken together, the Joe Adams proposal, coupled with Apple Printing would require $4200 per issue for a total of $16,800 for four issues. Assuming mailing cost of $500 per issue or $2,000 per year, this proposal would be within the proposed 1994 budget of $20,000 which includes all production and mailing costs for the newsletter and brochure. ISSUES: The RFP contemplated the ideal production of the newsletter and recreation broohure through one party. The one proposal received which provides for all production services under one vendor exceeds our budget for the two items. The second option would be to approve the combined proposal of Joe Adams Marketing and Apple Printing. This would in essence be the continuation of our current arrangement. RECOMMENDATION: Given 1994 budget constraints, I am inclined to experiment with another option. I would recommend that the City Council consider awarding the proposal to Apple Printing for printing of the document only. As an experiment, staff will try its hand at drafting the newsletter articles as was done previous to our current arrangement. By undertaking this experiment, we can save approximately $1900 per newsletter, which could be used to add pages for special publication or to facilitate better written communication in other ways. The disadvantage is the time required to write the articles and to count and bundle newsletters for the post office. We would continue to have the ability to contact Mr. Adams or others who may wish to provide creative services if this experiment fails. -2 - . " ISSUES The proposal before the Council Is therefore to accept the proposal of Apple Printing for a three year term as set forth in their proposal. The costs per page are shown on the attached resolution. The annual increases would amount to $2.00 to $3.00 per page, depending upon the number of pages printed per Issue. I believe that this cost increase is modest and affords the City an opportunity to take advantage of reasonable printing costs over the next three years and support local business at the same time. ALTERNATIVES: Council has the following alternatives: 1. Award the bid to Apple Printing as recommended herein. 2. Table the issue for further study. RNANCIAL IMPACT: Adoption of the staff proposal is within the 1994 budgeted amount. ACTION REQUIRED: Motion and Second to adopt the attached Resolution 93-103 Awarding the Proposal to Apple Printing for preparation of the Newsletter and Recreation Brochure for 1994 through 1996. AGNPUB. WRT - 3 -