City council tackling large improvements, audit tonight

Pools and audits and booze all on the docket 

Money for a pool, a controversial audit and more time to buy booze, all issues getting tackled by La Crosse’s city council tonight.

The council votes on an infrastructure spending plan that includes over $800,000 for the Veterans Memorial Pool rebuilding project that has yet to really get off the ground.

Buying alcohol early in the morning gets a little easier with likely approval of expanding hours to buy beer, wine and liquor to 6 a.m. (it’s 8 a.m. right now).

And, maybe the most contentious issue is the one that calls for spending up to $30,000 on an external audit for the city’s parks and recreation department.

That comes in the wake of questions about how the department moves funds from one project to another.

Mayor Tim Kabat calls the audit, “a mistake” and suggests the effort has something to do with a personal vendetta against parks director Steve Carlyon.