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Council declines to add social media as formal method for public hearing notices
Summary
After reviewing possible enhancements to public hearing notices — including increasing mailing distance and website/push notifications — council declined to adopt social-media posts as part of the required public notice process, citing risks of confusion and staff workloads.
The Lake Elmo City Council discussed possible enhancements to the city’s public-hearing notice process on Tuesday and decided not to add social-media posts as a formal method of notice.
Communications staff noted the council previously adopted an increased mailing distance for public-hearing notifications and added a public-hearing notices section on the city website with an optional push-notification signup. Staff advised that posting notices on social media could expand reach but carries risks: posts might be missed or become the de facto notice in the public’s mind, staff cannot fully disable direct messages and replies, and tracking/triaging comments could create substantial additional workload.
Council members expressed support for the website/ push-notification approach but agreed that social media carries more potential for confusion about what constitutes required legal notice. Council member Holtz and others advised against adding social media to the formal notice requirements for now; staff will instead continue with the website and mailing changes and monitor whether further steps are appropriate.
