I hope this bug is fixed that I reported in beta, otherwise this is DOA and slap in face for folks testing in beta and reporting bugs. And please don't tell us it is a feature and not a bug, as nobody wants an exclamation thing on their city when nothing can be done.
Is this the way that Inno is thinking more ppl will use settlements ? Here is a better way, if a settlement is not started, not in cool down period, then randomly add a task in DC to start a settlement, this way if new players don't know about the feature they will be forced to figure it out. Others who don't want to do settlements can skip that DC.