Citizens weighed planning details for the Mifflin Street Block Party planning at a meeting Thursday night, focusing in on efforts to prevent a repeat of last year’s violent incidents and the “drunk culture” many neighborhood members said pervades the event.

The block party, which has been under heavy debate since incidents of violence which occured during last year’s event, has been the subject of collaborative planning from students, neighborhood residents and city officials in recent weeks.

In previous meetings, the Madison Police Department proposed not to block off the streets since it would affect traffic flow to other parts of downtown.

Mifflin Neighborhood Association member Peggy LaHahieu said she believes it is important for students to reframe the theme of the Mifflin Block Party and not to promote it as a “drunk fest.”

“When the [student representatives] speak of that, they see it as a drunk fest, and I personally am not happy with that,” she said. “It seems that we are having a little bit of conflict there.”

LaHahieu said although changes are unlikely to occur overnight, it is still important to let the students know the neighborhood wants to see major alterations to Mifflin.

Mifflin resident Indy Stluka said they are now trying to bring down the party to a small-scale gathering, which would only be limited to University of Wisconsin and Madison Area Technical College students.

“We are trying to change [the party] away from the drunk culture,” Stluka said.

Larry Warman, chair of the Neighborhood Association, said he had seen a lot of harassments and problems stemming from past parties, and it is unlikely for changes to take place in the short-term of the event.

Beyond talk of the 2012 party, a proposal from Mayor Paul Soglin was also introduced to the association regarding a potential partnership between the Madison Fire Department and developer Hovde Properties to build a new facility downtown for MFD. 

Soglin said concerns have also arisen over the plan to build the new facility in 10 years, as some worry that starting it now will be tough under current financial conditions.

He said if the fire department decides to carry out the project 10 years from now without the partnership, it might have to find a new location for 12 city employees.

In an interview with The Badger Herald, Fire Chief Steve Davis said MFD has been pressed for downtown space for some time with 45 employees and only room for 25 of them.

“The buildings are to the point where they need improvements in the heating and the roofs,” Davis said in the interview.

The new facility would include an apparatus floor for fire trucks, with a residential floor and offices above that, Davis said.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the development of the proposal is progressing very quickly, and some residents from the Mifflin neighborhood are not ready for a community meeting before they have a better understanding of the project.

Association member Scott Kolar said he is concerned about how the project is developing on a fast track and said he believes a community meeting is needed soon to discuss it.

“I just want to make sure that we got the neighborhood’s voice heard in there,” he said.

–Adrianna Viswanatha contributed to this report.