Madison’s City Council pushed forward with plans for the construction of a new downtown fire station and mixed-use development at its meeting Tuesday night.

The council unanimously voted to allow Mayor Paul Soglin to enter into a contract for purchase of services with Eppstein Uhen Architects Inc. to provide architectural pre-design and consulting services for the design of a new Fire Station No. 1 and administration building.

The project, which would include a high-rise, mixed-use development containing residential and retail space, is slated to take place on the 300 block of West Johnson and Dayton streets.

“This project is on the fast track, and the developers want to move very fast,” Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said. “The city’s interests, by necessity, are having to be equally as expeditious.”

Eppstein Uhen Architects Inc. is an architectural firm Hovde developers hired for its 14-story mixed use apartment building downtown, Verveer said. The city voted to use the firm for preliminary planning but may not ultimately contract with it for the actual construction of the fire station.

Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, added the city is under pressure to push forward with this project within a very short time period because of financial constraints with the developer.

The city will pay a little more than $57,000 to contract with Eppstein Uhen for preliminary planning purposes, a total that covers the initial design costs for the fire station and administration buildings, Resnick said.

He added Verveer will host a series of neighborhood meetings in the coming weeks to keep Madison community members up to date on the project proceedings.

One neighborhood meeting will take place at the Madison Senior Center April 12 at 7 p.m. Hovde developers and architects and the Madison Fire Department will be present to facilitate discussions on the development, Verveer said. 

The City Council also voted to pass a resolution praising Occupy Madison’s contribution to the city. Several members of the organization were present at the meeting to voice their opinions.

Ald. Marsha Rummel, District 6, said Occupy Madison has turned into a valuable resource for the city’s homeless during the winter months and the hard economic times. She said it has become a great way for giving the homeless a place to stay and provides positions of leadership.

Marcus Robinson, a homeless citizen of Madison, said the Occupy Madison organization acted as an effective way to accommodate and house the city’s homeless community.

“I’m an activist. I work with my heart, my body, my hands,” Robinson said. “I am not a bad person. Occupy has given me a chance.”

However, there was some opposition to this positive recognition of Occupy Madison.

Ald. Bridget Maniaci, District 2, expressed her sentiments that Occupy Madison was a failure on the city’s part in accommodating the homeless community. Ald. Lisa Subeck, District 1, agreed with Maniaci.

“I think that what I’ve heard tonight is a message of empowerment,” Subeck said. “I don’t know that the model of Occupy is the model to solve homelessness. That being said, there is a lot to learn from it.”