Council approves plan to hire vendor for city branding and free PR for local businesses and groups

The council discussed a new branding and social‑media program the city is rolling out with an external vendor. The chair said the vendor (referred to in the transcript as "Jagador" or "Jagged Rod Media") will manage the city's social channels and produce short promotional pieces for local businesses, schools and churches at no cost to participants.

The proposal calls for city staff and the vendor to visit participating businesses to record brief PR segments that will be posted on the city website and Facebook page. The chair said the city will send letters to local businesses inviting them to choose a date and time for a visit; participation is optional. The chair also said staff would reach out to local schools and churches and that the vendor would reduce social‑media workload for city staff.

The chair suggested distributing invitations to citizens through utility bills so residents can submit brief comments about what they like or would change about Franklin Springs; those clips would be incorporated into the city's online content if residents opt in.

Why it matters: The initiative is designed to promote local economic activity and community engagement and to centralize social‑media work under a vendor so city staff can focus on other duties. The council did not adopt a formal contract on the record at this meeting; the chair described the program as an update and preview of outreach that will begin soon.

The chair asked staff (Jackie and Marley referenced in the transcript) and a staff contact (Kayla) to continue working with the vendor to finalize the rollout and to notify businesses when scheduling begins.