Our guest today was Kole Hallmark, Logistics manager at Big Blue Boxes. John Johnson is working on obtaining racks to organize the club’s storage room. Our speaker today was Devin Massopust, New Brighton City Manager. Devin grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota, did his undergrad at St John’s University and got his graduate degree at Hamline University. He is married to Katie and they have a 2 year old son named Luca. Devin had been the assistant City Manager prior to becoming City Manager in March of 2020. Devin was here to update us on New Brighton. The Covid 19 pandemic was a major challenge for Devin’s first year and a half on the job. New Brighton has reported 2538 Covid cases and 63 deaths to date. The city’s clinics have so far been able to vaccinate 10,755 people and city administration has received two awards for its innovative response to pandemic challenges. All city facilities are currently open and masking is required indoors. The city recently secured bonding for improvements at six city parks at 1.53% interest rate, a historic low. Use of outdoor recreation facilities has increased dramatically and the Brightwood Hills Golf Course had its busiest month ever with over 5,000 rounds played in July. The intersection of Old Hwy 8 and 8th Ave. is being reconstructed and will soon have stop lights to handle the increased traffic from the new development nearby. The fire department has noticed a sharp increase in fire calls this summer (45 calls in July). The increase is not related to drought conditions, however. New Brighton has experienced a 44% increase in crime reports this year. The increase is solely in non-violent crimes like theft and burglary with catalytic converter thefts increasing dramatically. Devin reported that New Brighton’s new state of the art water filtration system is working smoothly. He also indicated that the Stockyard Days Parade will return to its old route next year but it will continue to be held on Saturday at 10AM. Devin can be contacted at mailto:devin.massopust@newbrightonmn.gov Devin is pictured below.  Jeff Lundquist announced a softball game between the SBM Fire Department and the Mounds View Police Department to honor the Heroes who responded after the 9/11 attacks 20 years ago. The game (dubbed “Guns and Hoses”) will be held at Mounds View City Hall Park at 11 AM on Saturday, September 11th. Volunteers would be appreciated at 10:30AM. Or club has agreed to help sponsor the event. Don’t forget that the Mounds View Festival In The Park is this Friday, and Saturday. Click here for more information. Geoff Hollimon said that Roseville’s Rosefest has been cancelled for this year. The Board will meet prior to the noon meeting at 11AM on Aug 24th. |
