Jan. 30, 2026
VIROQUA, Wis. — The Viroqua Common Council approved a contract Tuesday to hire an outside consultant to assist City Administrator Nate Torres with a growing list of economic development projects that city staff say has exceeded their current capacity. The council voted unanimously to engage with Vierbicher & Associates for a one year contract at $25,000 to provide specialized support for housing and commercial developments.
Torres explained that the city has historically utilized consultants on an as needed basis but the sheer volume of current projects such as the Hanson Farm development requires a more formal and steady arrangement. He noted that the workload has shifted significantly since he began his tenure.
“It was more on a time and labor arrangement previously,” said Torres. “There wasn’t like a contract agreement. We would just use Kurt as we needed them, and then he would bill us for it. What we found over the years is that in 2021, 2022 and 2023 we had projects going on, but not to the degree that we do now.”
The new agreement brings in Andy Kurtz of Vierbicher who previously served as a village administrator in Marathon City for ten years. Kurtz told the council that the agreement is designed to provide Torres with off the bench assistance for tasks like drafting development agreements and chasing down developers.
“It’s our goal, ultimately, to provide that level of service that Nate needs to fill that void, or offload some of those things to make his life a little bit easier,” said Kurtz. “We’ve got it at about five hours a week.”
Torres provided the council with a history of how the city arrived at this point noting that the role of economic development had been in flux since the passing of former City Administrator Jeff Gohlke. Gohlke had served as a vital resource for the Viroqua Development Association and his absence left a gap in institutional knowledge and capacity.
“When we lost Jeff and he passed away, we brought in Kurt more consistently,” said Torres.
The “Kurt” Torres referred to is Kurt Muchow of Vierbicher who has been the city’s primary consultant for tax increment financing and major infrastructure projects for years. With Muchow moving toward retirement the firm proposed transitioning the city’s account to Kurtz to ensure continuity.
“Kurt has been working with with you guys for a number of years, and a part of this process is to transition that account relationship from Kurt to myself,” said Kurtz. “We’re keeping him around as long as we possibly can.”
The city had attempted to solve this staffing issue in the 2025 budget by partnering with the Viroqua Chamber on a shared position through CEDA which stands for Community Economic Development Associates. The plan was for an employee to work four days a week as the Chamber executive director and one day a week for the city but Torres explained that the arrangement ultimately failed because the Chamber side of the role was never stabilized.
“Unfortunately, what happened in 2025 is that the Chamber side of things, the four days a week where somebody was supposed to work as the executive director, really never came to fruition,” said Torres. “It never got off the ground.”
The new contract with Vierbicher is a fixed fee of $25,000 for the year which Torres noted is less than the $32,000 the city would have paid under the CEDA proposal. While acknowledging that the price tag is significant Torres argued that securing taxable development is critical for the city’s financial health.
“I know 25,000 is a lot. I get it,” said Torres. “But we are at we are at a moment here. We have a lot of opportunity in front of us, and if we start getting some of these businesses planted, this money should pay for itself.”
Kurtz assured the council that the firm views the city as a long term partner and would not charge extra if the workload occasionally exceeds the estimated hours.
“What will happen with any overage hours is Vierbicher will absorb that,” said Kurtz. “We value the relationship that we have with the city. If there is some overage of hours at the at the end of the period of time, that’s something that will absorb.”
Alderperson Tanja Birke requested that the new consultant provide regular updates to the council regarding what types of businesses are expressing interest in the community even if deals do not materialize. She expressed a desire to better understand the market dynamics affecting Viroqua.
“I’m curious who was interested,” said Birke. “I just think that it can help us understand what attracts people to Viroqua and what makes, why do they make other decisions?”
Alderperson Cyndy Hubbard voiced support for the hiring citing the heavy burden currently placed on the city administrator and city clerk.
“I’m all for giving Nate extra help, because he does a tremendous amount of things,” said Hubbard.
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