EASTHAMPTON – The Easthampton City Council met with Reminder Publishing General Manager Fran Smith to discuss ways in which The Reminder newspaper could be delivered in the city without causing litter.

Over the past few months, Easthampton residents have notified the city of blue bag litter caused by driveway delivery of The Reminder newspaper. There is a city ordinance that prevents such a delivery from occurring, and for the last month and a half, Smith and the company have been cited with a fine every week the newspaper is delivered in the city.

As a result, Smith joined the meeting to ask if the council would allow the newspaper to continue to be delivered the way it is being delivered. Smith also asked the council for a moratorium of the fines based on their ordinance.

"We cannot unilaterally say we’re going to go back to delivering the paper outside the bounds of the ordinance unless we change the ordinance,” said Peg Conniff, the president of the City Council.

City Councilor Salem Derby said that he would see 10 or more blue bags piled up on South Street in Easthampton, and added that the delivery method for The Reminder was problematic.

“I’ve witnessed one person in the car throwing papers as they drive, which is less than safe,” said Derby, who added that the blue bags would also cause problems with snow blowers and litter people’s lawns.

Reminder Publishing began delivering The Reminder in Easthampton in July 2020, and according to Smith, there were no problems with residents for the first eight months. Smith said that there were people who decided to opt out of the paper, and the company honored those requests. Around 251 houses in Easthampton have opted out of receiving the paper since July 2020. The paper is free to the public.

Smith said when the snow came, the newspapers got lost under the snow. Once the snow melted, the city was littered with the blue bags.

“We sent out several drivers to clean up the areas and pick up whatever was left around town,” said Smith. “I think we did a great job of that, based on my driving around.”

The council discussed different ways to move around the ordinance while still allowing The Reminder to exist within Easthampton. Two ideas were presented by City Council member Owen Zaret. One was the idea of utilizing kiosks for people for pick-up for those interested in the paper. The other idea was a possible opt-in option for delivery.

Smith also said that he would be willing to possibly use a hook on the mailboxes of residents who do not want the paper delivered in the current fashion. He added that the company could not afford to do that for the entire city, however.

“The opt-in model will allow us to go out of business,” said Smith, who added that businesses such as Stop & Shop, Big Y and River Valley Coop want their flyers, which are included in the paper, delivered to every home. If The Reminder were to lose this home delivery option, then they would lose those flyers that help generate revenue, and “probably go out of business.”

From now on, The Reminder will have an opt-out notice on the front page, providing contact information for the Circulation Department to those who do not want the paper delivered at their home. Smith said if The Reminder transitioned to porch delivery, their distribution costs would increase unsustainably.

“We’re trying to have a model where we do have a good community newspaper with good community news, and be good to people – and honor all opt-outs,” said Smith.

According to Derby, the city has to enforce the ordinance unless they go through the process of changing it, or getting rid of it. Without any interest of changing it however, the ordinance has to stay where it is at.

“Unless that new business is brought forward to this body in an official way, I don’t know how we would proceed beyond where we are now,” said Conniff. “If there is no appetite from the council or the public to bring forward change to this ordinance, the ordinance stands as it is.”