July 15, 2026
By Tim Hundt
VIROQUA Wis. – The Viroqua City Council is closing in on its next city administrator as the hiring committee narrows a pool of 14 applicants down to seven semifinalists.
Mayor Krista Browne provided an update during the July 14 regular council meeting outlining the upcoming timeline to replace former City Administrator Nate Torres who resigned in June to take a county leadership role. Browne announced that the application period officially closed on July 6 and the hiring team met a few days later to review resumes.
“We narrowed that pool down to seven candidates some of which are local some of which are out of state,” said Browne. “There is a wide range of people and skill sets and backgrounds and experience and we have a strong pool and we have choices to make.”
The seven remaining candidates will complete virtual interviews this week. The hiring committee will then meet on July 20 to evaluate the videos and select a final group of candidates to bring to Viroqua for a two day assessment center scheduled for early to mid August.
Despite operating without a top executive for several weeks during the busy summer construction season Browne took a moment to praise the existing municipal employees for stepping up to fill the administrative void.
“I wanted to take a minute to say thank you and give feedback of how positive everybody is doing at City Hall department heads staff,” said Browne. “We have been a few weeks without a city administrator and things are still moving smoothly.”
The council also settled a debate over how to name the four new streets being built within the Hanson Farm residential development on the north side of the city. Alderperson Cyndy Hubbard and Public Works Director Sarah Grainger met prior to the council meeting to find a compromise between citizens who wanted agricultural names and council members who preferred purple flowers.
Hubbard explained she consulted a Wisconsin wildflower book to find purple flowers that naturally grow on local farms. The main road connecting to the future Walmart intersection will be named Clover Drive while the parallel street will be Alfalfa Way. The two north south streets will be named Lilac Lane and Violet Lane.
“I thought why do not we pick purple flowers that are found on a farm,” said Hubbard. “I hope you guys like our decision.”
Construction at the Hanson Farm site continues to progress with the council approving a second change order for the initial infrastructure contract. Grainger noted the change order does not increase the overall project cost but adjusts the completion dates to accommodate the local builders. The city installed the street curbs last week and will lay the first coat of asphalt soon allowing the housing developers to access their lots by July 15 without driving heavy equipment over finished sidewalks. The final road surface is scheduled for completion by the end of October.
The council also approved two change orders for the ongoing construction of the new public bathhouse and welcome center. Hubbard reported that the substantial completion date for the facility has been pushed back to August 17 due to various construction factors.
The city approved a $5,280 change order to install underground electrical outlets near the street lamps to accommodate two food trucks. Hubbard explained the underground conduit will prevent food truck operators from running power cords across the public multi use path.
Inside the bathhouse crews have finished installing the drywall and will begin painting next week. The project also successfully incorporated seven historic doors salvaged from the old city hall building which have been stripped and stained to match the new interior.
“It is looking really nice if anybody has been in there to see it,” said Hubbard. “So it is pretty exciting.”
In other business Grainger informed the council that demolition work officially began this week to replace the aging wooden play structure at Eckhart Park. The council also approved a $27,628 contract with Scott Construction to apply chip seal to Maple Street and Power Drive. Finally the council approved a temporary alcohol license for the Vernon County Agricultural Society to host a tractor pull at the fairgrounds on July 18.
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