Jan. 29, 2026
VIROQUA, Wis. — The Viroqua Common Council moved behind closed doors on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2026, to debate a potential lease agreement for 40 acres of land owned by the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post but emerged without a finalized deal. But the discussion and meeting indicates the potential for city residents to still have public access to the property is still a possibility.
The property located on the south side of the city has been the subject of intense public interest since late 2025 when the VFW announced financial difficulties might force a sale.
Before going into closed session, Keith Yahn representing the VFW Board presented a counter proposal to the city during the open portion of the meeting. He stated that the organization came up with a monthly lease payment number of $1,600 to help cover operating costs and necessary capital improvements.
The negotiations have been driven by the aging demographics of the local VFW post. Yahn noted that the board members are advancing in age and they are concerned about the future of the charter. If the local post were to dissolve the property would revert to the state or national organization rather than remaining a local asset.
“The reason, you know, we don’t necessarily want to sell it,” said Yahn. “We have to sell it because the board members all up in their 70s, I’m pushing 80, and when we’re gone, that property could be taken by the state or national VFW.”
“We had an offer from the disc golf people are Vernon Trails, and I guess the city was going to chip in some,” said Yahn. “And then my son, Luke Yahn and his wife were thinking to develop it, and they put in an offer, and the board rejected both them. So now we made an offer of $1600 a month, and if that doesn’t fly, then list it with a realtor.”
Local non-profit Vernon Trails has made financial donations to the VFW and used mostly volunteer labor to make trail improvements to build the Vernon Hills disc golf course on the property that attracts players from the Midwest, and even nationally. When the issue of selling the property came up Vernon Trails leadership and members stepped forward with an offer to help keep the property a public green-space for the whole community.
Yahn explained that the lease amount was derived by comparing rental rates for farmland in the surrounding area. He emphasized that the revenue is critical for the maintenance of the VFW facility itself which requires significant updates.
“Definitely because we want to redo the parking lot blacktop and the kitchen needs to be updated,” said Yahn. “There’s different things.”
City Administrator Nate Torres and Mayor Justin Running led the council into a closed session to discuss the proposal. Torres noted that the value of the land to the citizenry is a central part of the negotiation.
“How valuable is that 40 acres to the citizens?” asked Yahn. “Should the city even be involved with trying to pay for it?”
“That’s all part of what we talked about in the previous school sessions, and we’ll talk about in this new one,” said Running. “Because that is a factor for sure.”
Context of public outcry
The urgency of the situation became public in October 2025 when a large group of residents attended a council meeting to advocate for preserving the land.
During that October meeting VFW Board Member Steve Thompson told the crowd that a sale was being considered strictly due to economics.
“We don’t really want to sell this land,” said Thompson. “We really don’t, because I as a kid played there. I mean, that’s where I grew up, was in that back 40.”
Vernon Trails representative Alycann Taylor urged the city at that time to collaborate on a purchase or lease to prevent the land from being sold for private development. She highlighted the economic impact of outdoor recreation which she said brings tourism dollars into the community.
“If we are not careful, we are going to develop the magic right out of this place,” said Taylor. “Please vote yes to collaborate with Vernon trails and its supporters to make a fair offer to the VFW to purchase this property.”
Ryan Kocian a board member for Vernon Trails detailed the volunteer hours invested in the property to create a regional destination.
“We have turned this overgrown, barely usable piece of land into one of the top rated disc golf courses in Wisconsin,” said Kocian. “Based on data from a popular disc golf score keeping app, we estimated that over 1600 players have visited our course in the last year.”
Financial hurdles
One of the challenges facing the city is the source of funding for any potential deal. During previous discussions Administrator Torres clarified that the city cannot use Tax Increment District funds for the VFW land because the property lies outside the eligible zone.
“The VFW land is outside of the TID and it’s outside of the half mile boundary of the TID,” said Torres.
The council did not announce any final action regarding the lease following the closed session on Jan. 28. Negotiations between the city and the VFW are expected to continue.
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