April 3, 2026
VIROQUA Wis. – The future of 40 acres of public recreation land on the couth end of Viroqua remains in limbo following a Viroqua Common Council meeting Tuesday March 31, where officials entered a closed session to debate purchasing or leasing the local Veterans of Foreign Wars property.
The closed door negotiations took place following a recent social media post and open letter from the outdoor recreation group Vernon Trails regarding the ongoing negotiations. The posts expressed deep frustration over a stalled bargaining process and a growing fear that the land will be sold to a private developer after months of seemingly productive talks unraveled.
At previous city meetings dozens of residents pleaded with the city to find a way to finance the preservation of the green space which hosts the Veteran Hills Disc Golf Course and miles of hiking and biking trails. Vernon Trails has been instrumental in building and maintaining those facilities in cooperation with the VFW organization.
When the issue was first raised that the VFW was entertaining options to sell the land, Allycann Taylor spoke on behalf of Vernon Trails and urged the council to formally collaborate with the organization to secure the property.
“If we are not careful we are going to develop the magic right out of this place,” said Taylor. “This is an established asset maintained and highly utilized by the community and your vote today helps secure this property for generations to come.”
Vernon Trails President Pete Taylor informed the council at a previous meeting that the VFW land is more than three times the size of Eckhart Park.
“If we were to lose this land we would lose more than half of the green space within the city limits,” said Taylor.
Local disc golf organizer Ryan Kocian detailed the massive volunteer effort poured into the property over the last decade. He noted that over 1600 players visited the course in the last year alone playing over 5000 rounds of disc golf.
“My fellow volunteers and I have built and maintained this course and have contributed over 5000 volunteer hours so far,” said Kocian. “We are asking you the city of Viroqua to help us preserve this land with Vernon Trails and the community so it can be enjoyed.”
However the VFW faces its own stark financial realities which residents also brought to the forefront.
Resident Jean Haakenson spoke at the meeting to remind the crowd that the VFW is looking at a sale out of financial necessity.
“This is not something they were wanting or wishing to do,” said Haakenson. “This is a matter of necessity and again if y’all would have come and had a burger or something this wouldn’t even be happening.”
A history of stalled solutions
During a January 28 city council meeting city officials and VFW representatives seemed to be inching toward a collaborative solution that would keep the land public. During that meeting VFW representative Keith Yahn explained that the local board members are in their seventies and face declining revenues. Yahn noted that if the local charter dissolves due to a lack of funds the property would revert to the state or national VFW organization.
At that time Yahn told the council that the VFW board had already rejected a purchase offer from the disc golf community and a separate development offer from his own son. Instead Yahn proposed a lease agreement to the city.
“So now we made an offer of $1,600 dollars a month and if that doesn’t fly then list it with a realtor,” said Yahn.
The $1,600 dollar monthly lease was intended to help the VFW pay for a new parking lot and kitchen updates. Mayor Justin Running and the council expressed optimism about a lease option during that January meeting noting that collaborative efforts are often the most successful in Viroqua.
However that potential solution fell apart in the intervening weeks.
According to a March 27 open letter to VFW members and a public social media update from Vernon Trails the organization and the city made two distinct attempts to secure the land following those initial discussions.
“We originally made a fair offer to purchase the land,” read the Vernon Trails statement. “The VFW did not accept that offer. Then a month ago we presented an offer to lease the land far above market rate for any comparable land lease to date. The VFW countered with an unreasonable lease offer.”
The breakdown in the lease negotiations prompted the VFW to invite another realtor to their recent board meeting according to the Vernon Trails letter.
On March 31 the city council moved into a closed session with stakeholders in another attempt to find a path where all parties can find a solution that gives the VFW the financial help it needs while still keeping the property publicly accessible.
While the public eagerly awaited an outcome the immediate future of the property remains unresolved. City Administrator Nate Torres commented that the closed session did not yield a solution but negotiations will continue.
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