The Newport City Council met Thursday, May 7 at 5:30 p.m. in city hall. On the night’s meeting agenda were several items, including police, fire, and public works and council updates. Approved in consent were meeting minutes for regular council and a workshop, as well as resolution 2026-09 authorizing the hire of Keith Albrecht with the Newport Fire Department and city bills in the amount of $337,892.37.
Prominent Thursday was a presentation from Washington County Sheriff’s Sergeant Joel Legut ahead of National Law Enforcement Memorial Week.
Legut attended the meeting alongside several deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office as part of a quarterly gathering of Newport’s law enforcement team. He reported that warmer weather and the approaching end of the school year have brought increased activity throughout the city, particularly speeding concerns in residential neighborhoods.
“We recently did the count,” he said. “We have 116 directed patrols throughout the city thus far this year, and that’s for different streets and areas where citizens have raised concern. So we are out there. We are active, and we’re educating the best we can for folks.”
Legut then shifted to a personal reflection about law enforcement service and sacrifice as officers prepare to participate in memorial activities in Washington, D.C., during National Police Week. Legut and members of the department’s honor guard will assist with ceremonies honoring officers killed in the line of duty.
Legut then read a prepared statement on the impact of law enforcement, using personal experiences to connect with hearers.
“I am a sergeant with Washington County Sheriff’s Office,” he said. “I’m a person who has a passion and a love for this profession. I’m someone who wants to be there to help through the highs and lows in life, to get someone on the right track for a successful life, regardless of the stage one might be in. I’m dedicated to the citizens of this county and this city, specifically to help make it safer so they do not have to worry about violence or danger lurking in their neighborhood.
“But what some people may not think about us or about is I’m a coach who volunteers time to help children learn a sport. I’m a father of three wonderful children, ages four, six and nine. I’m a husband of a kind, caring, supportive wife.
“I’m a person who wonders if the next person I encounter while working will hate me only because of my profession and not look past the uniform, not knowing who I am or what I believe in. I’m a person who puts on a vest when I go to work every single day, hoping and praying, should I be shot that the vest will stop the bullet. I’m a person who thinks about whether today will be a day someone tries to assault me or hurt me so bad I may not be able to provide for my family.
“I’m a husband who worries if something should happen to me, will my wife be okay? I’m a husband who worries if something will happen to my wife, as she is also in the same profession with a different agency. I’m a father who wonders if I will get to see my nine-year-old hit the baseball at his next game, something he’s been working so hard at. Or my six-year-old just starting to learn softball and has such a caring heart. Or my four-year-old energetic kiddo who says ‘you’re the best’ with a big smile is going to preschool full time starting in the fall.
“I’m a person who has dreams or thoughts that someone will do something bad to my children because of the things I have seen evil do over my 23 years in my career. I’m a person who was haunted by those I could not save—adults, children and yes, infants. I’m a person who has changed in my years because of what we have to see, do and experience.
“The people I will encounter will never know anything of what I have told you, but I am human. Despite what may happen in life, I will never give up. I will never adjust my moral belief. I will show up for work every day and do the very best I can at those exact moments I am engaging with the public and my partners. I will run into danger knowing my possible demise, if I know it will save the lives of others.
“Some of what I have said is a very small snip of my life. Each and every officer has their own stories, but I assure you, there are some similarities. Like I had mentioned earlier, May 15 is Law Enforcement Memorial Day, and this day is dedicated to honor those brave men and women who have lost their lives in efforts to save others. They will never again get a chance to tell their story. They will never be able to see their kids at their baseball game, and when their child looks over to their parent, there will be an empty space on the bleacher where their mother or father should be, or an empty chair at a dinner table while the family sits together and there’s an awkward silence as everyone is on the verge of tears wishing they could see them just one more time.
“I do ask for the public on May 15, despite one’s belief in law enforcement, to please take a moment that day to reflect and thank those officers’ sacrifices and just as importantly the family, who must live with the empty seat and daily reminder of their lost ones, because we’re all human.”
Mayor Laurie Elliott thanked Legut for sharing what she called “the humanity behind the badge.”
“I want to thank you for bringing some of the humanity behind the badge to your statement, and for helping people to understand that an officer has the same worries and the same concerns and the same hopes and the same dreams of anybody,” she said. “I think it’s easy to forget that with a uniform.”
Council members also hears an update from Newport Fire Department Chief Derek Marson, who reported that the department had responded to 13 calls during the past month, including mutual aid calls for a structure fire and vehicle fire in Cottage Grove.
Marson said firefighters recently completed additional Blue Card incident command training, a nationally recognized emergency scene management system.
“It truly, truly has saved a lot of lives,” Marson said. “If you don’t know where people are in a fire scene, that’s the most dangerous thing out there.”
Later on the meeting meanwhile the council approved a $136,733.50 partial payment for Newport’s water system interconnection project with City of Cottage Grove, with Public Works Superintendent Matt Yokiel saying installation of system controls and meters is nearly complete and the interconnection should become operational within weeks.
“It should be operational,” Yokiel said. “Big step toward clean water.”
Yokiel also announced a May 19 “Touch-a-Truck” event at Newport Elementary School featuring vehicles from public works, the sheriff’s office and the fire department.
“I think it’s really important for them to see some of the hands-on people behind the scenes that make life happen and keep the world running,” he said of engaging with youth.
Closing May 7 with mayor and council reports, Elliott announced the death of longtime Newport volunteer Beverly Bartl, who served the city for decades through the Heritage Preservation Commission, library board and numerous community activities.
“For those of you who may not have heard already, Bev Bartl passed away on April 26,” Elliot said. “She has been and her husband have been a longtime member of the Newport community, and she has been a volunteer in Newport for well over 30, I’m going to say, probably approaching 40 plus years or more.
“She was a founding member of the Newport Heritage Preservation Commission, and in 2022 we actually planted a tree in her honor for 30 years of service on the Heritage Preservation Commission, as well as being an inaugural member of that organization or that committee that we had. She’s also been serving on our library board, we know since before 1989, we think probably as far back as 1984. She’s been an election judge. In 2008 she was named Newport Volunteer of the Year.
“She’s just been a wonderful community booster and served in many capacities when needed, beyond what I’ve listed here. And her and her husband ran John Bartl Hardware, really stalwart supporters of community events and always stepping up when we needed it.
“That was part of a cadre of volunteers that, for many, many decades, helped make Newport the best it could be, whether it was weeding plantings or trying to get a community garden up and running. The volunteers have made a big, big difference. And the playground equipment that was originally in Pioneer Park, that was all constructed and put together by volunteers in the community. They would work all day, and they would come home in the evenings, and they would piece together the playground structure. Took a couple of weeks to do it.
“So she is part of that group, and part of that mindset of giving back to the community when you can.”
Also sharing from the council meanwhile was Council Member Marvin Taylor, who said he had recently attended a meeting of the Red Rock Corridor Commission and reflected on the evolution of regional transit planning in the east metro area. Taylor said the region has seen a “revival” in transit options, including the Route 345 Gold Line connector running from Woodbury through Newport to the Mall of America and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. He also highlighted the newer DARTS circulator service operating in Newport, describing it as part of a broader effort to expand transportation access through smaller, practical projects rather than one large-scale transit initiative.
“What we’ve gone with, in the direction we started to recognize a couple years ago, is less that kind of home run project and more varied projects to meet people where they’re at,” Taylor said. “You’re going to see this system slowly build out. You might not think, ‘Where’s the Red Rock corridor?’ That isn’t really where things are going to happen, but there is, to me, excitement to see different options serving different residents.”
Newport Council meetings are held on the first and third Thursday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in city hall. The public is welcome to attend.