By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Helena residents will begin receiving a Helena city newsletter again starting in April after the City Council agreed during a special-called March 12 meeting to move forward with a publisher.

Helena resident Dave Smith and his company, Meridian Graphics, will continue to produce the city’s newsletter after the Helena City Council authorized Mayor Mark Hall to negotiate a contract with the company.

Smith has been producing the Helena newsletter since 1994. The city has not mailed out a newsletter to residents since December.

Meridian Graphics and the Pelham-based Me2Graphics responded to Helena’s request for proposals for the newsletter. The city asked those interested in publishing the Helena newsletter to submit per-issue prices for 24, 36 and 48-page newsletters.

Meridian Graphics bid $3,075 per issue for a 24-page magazine, $4,213 for a 36-page magazine and $4,540 for a 48-page magazine. Meridian Graphics bids were, on average, about 40 percent lower than the bids Me2Graphics submitted.

Helena is planning to mail out a 32-page newsletter every other month beginning in April. Meridian Graphics submitted a per-issue price of $3,427 for a 32-page magazine.

City Council President Cris Nelson said the council made the decision based on the bids submitted for the 24, 36 and 48-page magazines.

“Dave was consistently lower,” Nelson said.

Because Meridian Graphics also will be producing the bimonthly Pelham newsletter, the Helena and Pelham newsletters will alternate months of production, Nelson said.