Your neighbor's guide to what's happening at City Hall — August 15, 2026

The Big Takeaway

Money Watch

• The borrowing. The Council will consider a resolution authorizing a General Obligation Promissory Note, Series 2026A, in the approximate amount of $2,518,000. The agenda names the amount but not the projects it would fund — though the Public Works agenda for the same evening covers ongoing work at the Hanson Farm and Center Avenue projects, which is where big-ticket borrowing usually lands. For scale: spread across Viroqua's roughly 2,000 households, $2.5 million works out to somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,200 per household — but it's paid back over years, not all at once, so the annual bite on any one tax bill is far smaller. Watch for the repayment schedule when it's presented. ^[1]

• Pay requests. Public Works will review pay request #10 for the Hanson Farm project and pay request #9 for the Center Avenue project. These are progress payments to contractors as work gets completed. No dollar figures appear on the agenda. ^[3]

• Next year's budget. Public Works has "discussion with possible action on proposed 2027 budget" on its list. That's the earliest public look at what the street and utility side of the city wants to spend next year — again, no numbers published in advance. ^[3]

• Bills. The Finance/Personnel Committee handles the routine payment of bills before the Council meeting, and the Council signs off after. No totals are listed on either agenda. ^[1][2]

Coming Up

Meetings are open to the public — most have a public comment period near the top of the agenda. See the city's full meeting calendar for dates beyond the next two weeks.

The Quick Rundown

• Disaster help from the feds. The Small Business Administration will give a presentation to the Council about disaster assistance. If you're a homeowner or business owner who took damage in recent weather events, this is the session where you'd learn what federal help looks like and who qualifies. ^[1]

• Old City Hall site. Parks & Rec brings the old city hall site plan back to the Council for discussion and possible action. The Historic Preservation Commission took up a Certificate of Appropriateness for the same site in July, so the two bodies are working the same question from different angles. ^[1][5]

• Main Street by Aldi. Public Works has an update with possible action on the Main Street repair near Aldi. No cost or timeline is in the agenda packet, but if that stretch has been rattling your suspension, this is the item to follow. ^[3]

• Survey work contract. Public Works will also discuss a revised agreement with Town & Country for survey work. Terms aren't spelled out on the agenda. ^[3]

• Historic preservation. The Historic Preservation Commission meets Monday, August 17. On its list: reimbursing chair Cyndy Hubbard $200 for four $50 tickets so Karen Innis, Aaron Parker, Nancy Rhodes, and Mayor Krista Browne could attend an awards celebration; whether to send members to a Local History and Historic Preservation Conference in Milwaukee, October 14–16; changes to Section 106 (the federal rule requiring review when federally funded projects affect historic properties); and recruiting new members — the commission is openly looking for volunteers. ^[4]

• Tourism. The Tourism Commission meets Wednesday, August 19 to pick a vice chairperson and take what the agenda calls "a deeper dive into digital tourism," plus reports from the Chamber and the city. ^[6]

One More Thing

Sources

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