May 25, 2026 – By Tim Hundt
VIROQUA Wis. – City department heads are scrambling to finalize a two year stopgap capital improvement plan after large unexpected landfill remediation costs forced officials to pause long term financial planning.
City Administrator Nate Torres told the Common Council in May that the city originally intended to pass a five year capital plan spanning 2025 to 2029 but the unexpected leaking methane at the old city dump brought the process to a halt.
“The capital improvement plan should have been approved over a year ago,” said Torres. “Things kind of came to a screeching halt because we had no concept of what that was going to end up costing us.”
Torres explained that at the time they caused capital planning the estimated cost for the landfill fix rangeg from $700,000 dollars to $3 million dollars drastically altering the city borrowing capacity. The final price tag came in at around $2.5 million.
To keep essential municipal projects moving Torres directed department heads to review their priority lists and establish a realistic two-year purchasing plan.
Public Works Director Sarah Grainger presented her updated list to the Public Works Committee highlighting critical infrastructure grants that are nearing expiration. Grainger emphasized that the city must make an immediate decision on the West South Street reconstruction project to secure a $400,000 dollar state grant that sunsets in 2027.
“It is a strong priority for so many reasons,” said Grainger. “There are some improvements that can be made that will help traffic give the path for the kids to go on and fix retaining walls.”
Grainger noted she scaled the project down to roughly $850,000 dollars to maximize the grant match and avoid unnecessary underground utility costs. She is also pushing the council to utilize a $550,000 dollar grant to resurface Education Avenue. Beyond roads Grainger warned the committee that the city must prioritize replacing an aging dump truck that runs salt routes during the winter.
“When we say we have a dump truck for 20 years because that is our current running dump truck that is a long time for a dump truck that is in salt all the time,” said Grainger.
At the Public Safety Committee meeting Fire Chief Chad Buros identified a new primary fire engine as the absolute top priority for his department. Buros explained the engine purchase was originally scheduled for 2024 but was deferred to prioritize the construction of the new $9.5 million dollar fire station. Because of that delay the current frontline engine will soon pass the 15 year mark recommended by national fire standards while the reserve engine owned by the townships is now 33 years old. Buros warned that the cost of a new engine has skyrocketed from roughly $600,000 dollars a few years ago to nearly $1 million dollars today.
To offset the substantial price tag Buros shared that the city applied for Congressionally Directed Spending through Representative Derrick Van Orden.
“He moved forward about 50 percent of our ask,” said Buros. “That would be right around $395,000 dollars is what he is supporting.”
Buros removed vehicle extrication tools from his capital request to save the city money proposing that firefighters fundraise the funds themselves to replace their 17 year old tools. He also floated a unique health and safety request after discussions with Alderperson Todd Kirking to install an infrared sauna at the new fire station to help firefighters sweat out carcinogenic toxins after battling structure fires. Buros estimated the sauna would cost about $10,000 dollars and suggested the city and the three surrounding townships could split the bill. Buros framed it as an emerging wellness tool for firefighters, tied to the ongoing station project and capital planning, and he clearly treated it as a proposal that needed committee and city direction.
Buros said the idea came up during conversations Kirking about how well the fire station budget had been managed, and he explained he had done follow‑up research on firefighter health impacts. He told the committee the sauna would be a plug‑and‑play infrared unit, about a $10,000 purchase, and that there is already space and power capacity in the new station to accommodate it in an upstairs flex room. He emphasized the cancer‑prevention angle, saying research shows saunas help purge contaminants from firefighters’ bodies even after they have showered. He also raised the question of how to pay for it, asking whether it should come from remaining fire station project funds or be added into the city’s capital improvement plan.
“I did talk to the mayor a little bit about it too,” said Buros. “But Todd Kirking reached out to me quite a few months ago, and we were talking about the budget for the fire station, and how we were doing healthy on saving money throughout, doing different things. He had suggested and asked what I thought about installing another safety thing for the firefighters, something that’s good for their health. So it was put on the back burner, but now we’re getting to the end of that. We’re talking about CIP (Capital Improvement Plan). I felt it was right to bring up his thought, but he’d suggested us get putting in a sauna. I’m like, really? So I’ve done some research, actually had heard about them quite a few years ago is when it first came up, but you’ve all heard me talk about cancer, the health of the firefighters. Every fire we go on, we’re absorbing not such good stuff. We’ve implemented a lot of things in the new fire station that will help with that, but research has shown health in general, not just firefighters, but health in general, saunas help you sweat out impurities and things like that.”
When asked about the type of unit, he confirmed it would be infrared and laid out how it would fit into the new station’s upper‑level flex space.
Later in the same discussion, City Administrator Nate Torres told the committee that if the sauna were pursued, he would likely advocate for some cost share from the rural townships, suggesting roughly a thousand dollars per township on a ten‑thousand‑dollar project, though he noted that would depend on township appetite for the idea.
Police Chief Rick Niedfeldt presented a shuffled priority list to the Public Safety Committee moving the replacement of expired bulletproof vests to the top position. Niedfeldt noted eight of the ten officer vests are expired from 2020 but he is pushing the replacement to April 2027 to capture a federal grant that will cover half the cost.
“If we do push that to get the 50 percent off that is not an application process that we do,” said Niedfeldt. “All I have to do is here are eight vests I want and the federal government pays for it.”
Niedfeldt ranked new speed boards as his second priority and replacing aging department handguns as his third priority. He told the committee that the firearms instructors recently took two guns out of service because they are over 20 years old and no longer functional. The department plans to stagger the replacement of the remaining handguns buying one a year moving forward. Niedfeldt also delayed a request to replace a seven year old Dodge Durango patrol vehicle and pushed back a request for Class A dress uniforms to save money.
Parks and Recreation Director Kale Proksch asked his committee to allocate remaining capital funds to purchase a new zero turn lawnmower. Proksch explained his staff is struggling to keep up with the expanded green spaces at the new municipal buildings and the city utility properties.
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