Coaldale’s Town council funds pilot project with Sunny South News

During its July 11, 2022, Regular Council Meeting, Coaldale Town Council voted unanimously to green light a new communication action plan, part of which entails funding a pilot project with the Sunny South News that will see a copy of each new issue delivered to every residence in Coaldale until December 31, 2022.

In April, Coaldale Town Council adopted a Council Communication Strategy designed to help turn its goal of providing residents with meaningful two-way engagement into a reality. This strategy is structured around five (5) key priorities: communicating early and more often; providing Town residents with clear, consistent, and meaningful information; engaging the community sooner (rather than later) in the decision-making process; providing more opportunities for Town residents to provide meaningful input; and preserving Coaldale’s smalltown feel.

While developing this strategy, however, it became clear that because not everyone who resides in Coaldale has access to a computer or smart phone – or has social media accounts – effectively communicating with Town residents would require utilizing more traditional means of communication in addition to digital alternatives. As a result, of the five communication action items approved by Council at its July 11, 2022 Regular Council Meeting, one was to initiate a pilot project with the Sunny South News that will see a copy of the regional paper delivered to every residence in Coaldale for the remainder of the year.

“As a Council we strongly believe in engaging with and meeting people where they are at, whether that be online via our Town website and social media platforms, or through regional newspapers like the Sunny South News,” said Town of Coaldale Mayor Jack Van Rijn. “No Town resident should feel like they have been left in the dark about what’s happening in the community simply because they don’t utilize social media or have access to a computer.”