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The Ely Echo will once again serve as Ely’s official newspaper.
The only locally-owned and operated newspaper and the only one to maintain an office in Ely has been designated to be the publication in which the city prints meeting minutes, public notices and other announcements.
Tuesday’s decision by the city council came without comment and was little more than a formality, after a recommendation from the council’s budget committee.
The council voted unanimously to choose the Echo, which was the only publication eligible to bid for the legal publishing contract, given action by the Tower-based Timberjay to no longer print a separate Ely edition.
In 2019 the council picked the Timberjay to serve as a legal publication, a move that generated controversy and several weeks of debate.
The Echo won the designation back in 2020 and has served ever since.
The Echo maintained the same rates for publishing display advertising, but increased the rate for publishing council meeting minutes in bids that were due in late-January.
The city will be charged $8.45 per column inch for meeting minutes this year, compared to $6.95 last year, below the publication’s regular rate for legal advertising.
For display advertising, the city will also pay $8.45 per column inch this year.
The Echo, which has been in existence since 1972, owns a downtown building and has maintained an office presence in Ely’s business district since its inception.
Circulation within Ely’s 55731 zip code is 1,814, with an overall circulation of 3,214.
The Echo is also the official publication of the Ely School District, the city of Winton and neighboring Morse and Fall Lake townships.
