With the closure of the Fort Nelson News, the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality is looking at in-house solutions to fill the local media gap and will research options for a community newsletter.
Fort Nelson mayor Rob Fraser made the motion during the Jan. 8 meeting this week, after presenting the item as new business in December. Council voted in favour of directing staff to look into options and formatting.
Newsletters are quite common in other communities, noted one councillor, pointing out that Chetwynd has had one for a number of years, through the Coffee Talk Express, which can be found in their local businesses and community facilities.
Both Taylor and Dawson Creek have community newsletters, agreed Fraser, noting the Taylor Times is now roughly a ten-page publication filled with notices and info for the public. Local non-profits are interested in taking part, he added, from input gathered during a community roundtable.
There's also room and a need for a community calendar, noted Fraser, which could be used to advertise community events.
"I envision that it's both an online and a hard copy document, so I would hope that staff would look at its potential format, its potential distribution, costs, and come together with some type of a budget," said Fraser. "We also know that the chamber of commerce is interested in doing something like this, is it a partnership? Is it is a proposal to help them? What do those types of things look like?"
