Your neighbor's guide to what's happening at City Hall — September 3, 2026

The Big Takeaway

Money Watch

• The city locked in borrowing for the landfill project. Council accepted a bid from Peoples State Bank at 3.95% for a General Obligation Promissory Note of roughly $2,518,000, beating Citizens First Bank (4.0%) and Royal Bank (4.10%). There's no prepayment penalty. This is interim financing — the USDA requires the city to have money in hand because federal dollars arrive last — and closing was set for September 1. ^[1][5]

• Council also approved $763,639.84 in bills plus another $90,426.42, most of it construction. Two payments account for the bulk: $501,810.88 for Hanson Farm and $309,264.71 for Center Avenue. ^[1][2][3]

• Smaller items worth knowing:

• Main Street by Aldi: the temporary patch was replaced at a total cost of $25,100, with $20,100 still to pay. Public Works Director/City Engineer Sarah Grainger covered it with money left unspent in the compost budget. She warned the committee that Main Street will need more expensive repairs before the state DOT considers the damage bad enough to pay for. ^[2] - Survey work: the Town & Country contract ran $6,000 over, bringing the total to $29,500. Approved. ^[2] - A full-time position: Grainger's Public Works Director/City Engineer job moves from 85% to full-time, an added budget cost of about $8,252 — split 50/50 between the city and the water/sewer budget. ^[2] - Free money: the old city hall site plan is pre-approved for a $50,000 Vibrant Spaces Grant, and the fire department landed a $7,500 Compeer grant plus $8,000 in donations for extrication equipment. ^[1][7] - A watch item: fire station utilities are projected to run $15,000–$16,000 over budget this year, which may require a budget amendment. ^[7]

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

• The old city hall site is still undecided. Blake from Parkitecture presented a phased park design with history markers, public art and food truck rentals, and four residents spoke about it. Alderperson Kyle Bartelt raised safety concerns about the intersection; Alderperson Tanja Birke asked whether the police or fire chiefs had reviewed the plan. Neither was present, so Council voted to send the design to the Public Safety Committee before it comes back. Nothing has been approved. ^[1]

• Viroqua has hired a city administrator. At a special meeting on August 4, Council approved the employment contract following closed-session negotiations. The name was not recorded in the open minutes. ^[6]

• Forty acres of VFW land. After a closed session on July 28, Council approved a land cost-sharing agreement. Terms weren't disclosed in the minutes. ^[5]

• New rules are being drafted. The Public Safety Committee reviewed draft ordinances covering beer garden licenses, special events, noise, curfew, and disturbance of the peace with a motor vehicle. They've gone to the attorneys to be put in proper format and will return to committee — so there's still time to weigh in. ^[7]

• TID #7 is growing. The Plan Commission voted to add two fairgrounds parcels, the city right-of-way south of the fairgrounds, and the Sherry Butt House parcel to the boundary of this 20-year mixed-use financing district, after residents asked why the fairgrounds had been left out. ^[8]

• Fire department leadership. The Police/Fire Commission's September 10 agenda includes firefighter resignations, a review of new applications, and two Lieutenant promotions and one Captain promotion. Much of it will happen in closed session, with any action taken back in open session. No dollar figures appear on the agenda. ^[4]

• Around town: Hanson Farm is on pace for substantial completion by October 2026, while Center Avenue's finish date is uncertain after weather delays. ^[9] The state will now require the city to test sewage sludge for PFOS. And of the 20 homes sampled for lead and copper, three showed a detection. ^[2][10]

One More Thing

Sources

Was this forwarded to you? Subscribe free here.

The Viroqua Public Record is an independent community summary of public meetings. It is not affiliated with the City of Viroqua.