Sept. 28, 2026
by TIM HUNDT
VERNON COUNTY, Wis. — Vernon County’s Housing Task Force spent much of its Sept. 17 meeting considering how the county can address housing costs, attract workers and support residents who struggle to find a home they can afford.
The Vernon County Housing Task Force was established in 2024 by Community Development Director Amy Oliver as a specialized working subcommittee under the Vernon County Economic Development Committee. The group was created to bring together a broad coalition of local leaders, housing authorities, real estate professionals, lenders, school leaders, and municipal officials to examine Vernon County’s housing challenges and craft actionable solutions.
After being formed the Task Force worked in partnership with UW-Madison Extension to conduct a comprehensive, countywide housing assessment. The process involved holding community engagement listening sessions in municipalities across the county, including La Farge, Readstown, Westby, and Hillsboro, to hear directly from rural residents, employers, and village officials.
The team compiled extensive demographic and real estate data, publishing the Vernon County Housing Study Report in 2025.
The Sept 17 meeting brought together two connected strands of work. Kelly Westlund, Bayfield County’s deputy administrator, described programs her county has used to encourage housing development. Vernon County members then discussed local efforts, including a proposed trades academy, the newly launched Driftless Bound recruitment program and whether the county should explore a community land trust.
Before the housing discussion, members approved a motion recommending Larkin Breckel as a voting member. The recommendation is contingent on County Corporation Counsel Brian Webber reviewing questions about committee communications and open meeting requirements. Breckel had regularly attended as a nonvoting participant. Dani Langrehr’s departure from the task force after taking a new job in La Crosse left a vacancy.
County Administrative Coordinator Nate Torres cautioned that the main legal question was not whether county staff could serve on committees, but how members could communicate before meetings. He said staff members who are also voting members may need to take extra care when sending materials or seeking feedback from the full committee.
“It’s not so much can staff members be on a committee. It’s what are the rules regarding emailing stuff out in preparation for a committee if you are a member of the committee,” Torres said.
Nathaniel Slack said his understanding was that staff could distribute information but should not invite a group discussion that could amount to a “walking quorum.” Members approved the recommendation with the condition that Webber review the issue. The discussion left the appointment in place as a recommendation, rather than resolving the broader question about committee communications.
Westlund’s presentation centered on a strategy Bayfield County calls “silver buckshot” rather than a single fix. She said Bayfield began housing work several years ago, completed a regional housing study and participated in a Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority initiative. The county then pursued multiple approaches, with the understanding that some might not work.
“There’s no silver bullet, so they decided that they would just back everything and take the silver buckshot approach,” Westlund said. “The expectation was that not everything was going to work out, but that we might at least find some strategies that would.”
She described a housing shortage and affordability problem that she said is affecting communities across Wisconsin. In her presentation, Westlund said nearly half of Wisconsin renters and about 19% of homeowners were cost-burdened, meaning housing costs exceeded 30% of household income.
For Vernon County, she cited a median household income of nearly $72,000 and calculated that an affordable monthly housing budget would be about $1,797. She compared that with a year-to-date median home sale price of $302,500 and a mortgage rate of about 7.3%. Under those assumptions, she said, a buyer would need about $118,500 for a down payment to keep the monthly payment below that budget.
Westlund said rural areas face added development barriers. Projects are often smaller than developers want to build, and distance raises the cost of transporting workers and materials. She said Bayfield County communities were often looking for developments of about 20 units, while developers increasingly sought projects of 40 units or more.
A central lesson from Bayfield County, she said, was to assign people to housing work rather than expect it to happen on top of other responsibilities. The county created a housing educator position and helped expand staff capacity at its housing authority. It also hired a part-time housing navigator to help residents find programs for repairs and other housing needs.
The navigator went beyond waiting for residents to seek help. She drove through communities to identify homes that appeared to need repairs, used county property records to find owners and sent information about available programs to both owners and residents. Westlund said that work tripled applications to regional revolving loan programs.
“It is a capacity issue,” Westlund said. “Having a person who is dedicated in terms of their time and effort toward addressing this issue, it really does make a difference.”
Westlund also described efforts to prepare communities for housing proposals before a project reaches a public hearing. She recalled a proposed development that triggered a contentious local response after a landlord sent postcards opposing it. The conflict, she said, showed the importance of working with residents and local allies early, identifying who needs housing and explaining the project before asking a community to support it.
In Iron River and Cornucopia, she said, local groups used that approach to identify potential sites, partners and housing needs. In Iron River, three builders became involved in a community committee and submitted development proposals. Westlund said the county was also addressing infrastructure needs for two proposed projects.
On zoning, Westlund said regulation can account for a quarter to a third of development costs. She encouraged communities to review rules that affect accessory dwelling units, parking, lot sizes, fees and the length of the permitting process. Bayfield County’s comprehensive zoning rewrite, she said, had taken longer than expected, in part because of the need for public input and coordination with local governments.
Her advice was to involve land records and mapping staff early, and to ask experienced zoning staff which rules create the most delays or expense. She said Bayfield County hopes to supplement its revised code with plain-language guides for residents.
Westlund pointed to Aurora Place, a 40-unit development in Washburn, as an example of what coordinated support can accomplish. She said the $14 million project involved the county, city, state and federal partners. Bayfield County provided land and staff support, and a $1 million federal earmark helped pay for site preparation and infrastructure. The project was the county’s largest housing development in about 25 years, she said.
The first building opened in January 2026, and all units were full by the end of March, according to Westlund. More than 200 households remained on the interest list. The experience, she said, illustrated the demand for housing as well as the time and coordination required to build it.
She also described Bayfield County’s efforts to steer tax-foreclosed properties toward long-term housing. Properties sold by the county come with a 10-year restriction on short-term rentals. Buyers of buildable vacant lots are expected to make progress toward building within 24 months. Westlund said the county also offers some land to developers willing to build housing within a set period.
Community Development Director Oliver said Vernon County had faced a similar issue with tax-foreclosed lots being bought by neighboring property owners who wanted to keep them vacant. She said she planned to ask Westlund for copies of Bayfield County’s deed restrictions.
The task force also heard an update on a proposed trades academy. Committee member and Westby Schools Administrator Steve Michaels said he had spoken with a program organizer in Green County and the principal of Monroe High School, where a similar program operated. He said the approach depended heavily on finding an instructor with the time and skills to manage students, grades and coordination with the school.
Michaels was not confident the current technical education teacher could take on the work, so he was exploring whether retired teachers might lead it part time. Two people had agreed to discuss the possibility, he said.
“I’m not giving up on it,” Michaels said.
Lacenski said she had not yet contacted Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Kaia Fox about a possible project near a Westby school where students could volunteer. Michaels said the program should have more than one path to succeed, including possible partnerships with Habitat for Humanity or CouleeCap, or a school-led effort.
Oliver reported that Vernon County had launched Driftless Bound using a state talent recruitment grant. The program is intended to attract residents from outside Wisconsin to fill local jobs. Eligible renters may receive reimbursement of up to $2,500 for a security deposit and first month’s rent. Eligible homebuyers may receive up to $12,500 toward a down payment or other equity contribution.
Oliver said the out-of-state residency and minimum household income requirements came from the state grant, not from the county. She said the program had drawn questions from residents who wondered why the county was not offering the same assistance to people already living there.
She said Vernon County also supports existing residents and businesses through other programs, including small-business grants and loans, community development grants and homebuyer resources through CouleeCap and Habitat for Humanity. She said the county’s unemployment rate was 2.9% and that employers still needed workers, making recruitment one part of a broader housing and workforce strategy.
“This is an addition to the support that Vernon County is bringing to our communities,” Oliver said. “It’s not something we’re taking away. It’s another tool in the box for us to recruit and retain workforce here in the county.”
Slack asked whether the county could create a revolving loan fund to help current residents who could qualify for a mortgage but were short on a down payment. Oliver said she had been considering that possibility and agreed that a loan fund could help fill a gap for local homebuyers.
The final housing discussion focused on a proposal raised at the County Board meeting earlier that day. Slack said a newly appointed five-member committee would explore whether a solar operation on county land could generate revenue for affordable housing, potentially through a land trust. He suggested a joint meeting of the task force and that committee once members had made progress.
Lacenski noted that CouleeCap already operates a land trust serving Vernon, La Crosse, Monroe and Crawford counties. She said the organization was working with a consultant to strengthen its policies and procedures, but funding remained the main obstacle to building more homes. A partnership, rather than creating overlapping efforts, could be worth exploring, she said.
Slack said a land trust might be more than Vernon County could take on by itself and suggested inviting Lacenski or Couleecap Executive Director Hetti Brown to explain how such a program works.
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