April 2, 2026
VIROQUA Wis. – In the near future City of Viroqua residents with yard waste will be able to drop their material at a site near the city street department garage rather than haul it to the current dump site outside of town off of Lewison Road. Under the new plan residents will be able to drop their materials at the site just like they do now at the remote site, but the materials will be monitored by city staff then hauled to the remote site by city personnel. For now city residents can still use the remote site like they have in the past but following this weeks vote the public works staff will begin transitioning to the new arrangement once they have all of pieces in place.
The change will only apply to residents who haul their own yard waste, the city’s curbside brush and compost collection service will continue operating as usual.
“We’re still gonna be picking up brushing compost. So, you can just put your compost out or your brush out,” City Engineer Sarah Grainger told the council. “It’s for people who wanted to drop it off at the site that’s just changing the location”.
The City Council voted unanimously to approve the plan this week following an earlier recommendation from the Public Works Committee to address issues at the remote site like illegal dumping and strict new state burning regulations. Recently the city was forced to pay an unbudgeted $15,000 dollar bill to shred accumulated brush at the rural site when the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources recently notified the city that they were out of compliance with burning regulations. According to city staff the unlocked site was also frequently abused by non-residents who illegally dumped items like stoves and refrigerators in the middle of the night.
Grainger presented the plan to the council and explained that the state will no longer allow the city to leave burning brush piles unattended overnight.
“It has to be burnt within daylight hours and put out as soon as it is not daylight hours,” said Grainger. “Somebody has to be present the entire time, and we were just not able to keep up with being able to burn how we normally do with what was already out there.”
Grainger noted that the brush and other materials were getting intermingled making it impossible to separate and burn efficiently which resulted in the large shredding bill. She explained that the new plan categorizes the waste into three streams including resident drop off, city collection and commercial businesses. By moving the residential drop off to the city shop staff can better control the site while the rural gates will be locked to the public. Grainger added that local commercial tree cutting businesses would still be able to access the rural site but they would have to pay an annual fee for a key to the locked gate.
“We would set up a location in the city at the shop where there is just more people, more eyeballs, especially during the day,” said Grainger. “That will help us keep the piles in more of a controlled setting.”
Street Superintendent Wade Vikemyr addressed the council to calm public fears that the brush program was ending entirely. He assured residents that the city is simply changing the drop off location to an area just east of the newly constructed salt and sand shed at the end of North Rock Ave.
“First of all I would just like to say that there is a buzz around town and panic about being shut down,” said Vikemyr. “What we have come up with is we are going to get about 30 to 40 concrete blocks and lay it out, probably like a 40′ by 40′ area.”
Vikemyr explained that signs will clearly mark where residents should separate their brush compost and wood. He added that city staff will regularly haul the collected waste from the downtown bins to the rural site.
“It will be the same thing if not easier for the taxpayers in town,” said Vikemyr. “It is closer for the average person that just has a couple cans of grass they can just go right down there and dump it.”
Alderperson Tanja Birke supported the new downtown location noting it would be more convenient for city residents. She then made the formal motion to enact the new policy.
“I think it is a great idea because I hate driving out to the compost site and I appreciate the team coming up with a good plan,” said Birke. “I make a motion to move forward with the plan.”
The council unanimously approved the motion by a voice vote. City staff will now begin purchasing the concrete blocks and security cameras utilizing a previously approved $5,000 dollar budget from the Public Works Committee. Grainger noted that the city will launch a public information campaign to educate residents before officially locking the gates at the old site.
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