Nearly 50 residents of the 400 and 500 blocks of Mifflin Street got a taste of the city's authorities expectations for this Saturday's Mifflin Street Block Party when they met with representatives from the Madison Fire and Police Departments at a neighborhood meeting Tuesday night.
The party has been a staple of the Madison community since 1969, but went through a major makeover following riots that occurred during the 1996 party, according to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, who has hosted the neighborhood meeting since 1997.
\We had a horrendous situation in 1996,"" he said. ""A couple of idiots had too much to drink and decided to ruin the party for everybody.""
The riot was cited as the main reason why the city turned down a petition by Mifflin Street residents to block off the street from traffic.
""Basically the reason why the police department doesn't support it is ... we're concerned about public safety,"" MPD Capt. John Davenport said. ""Once we block off a street it becomes very difficult to keep it just residential.""
As a compromise, the police will allow revelers to play sports in the street, something that was frowned upon in years past Verveer said, adding that he was pleased with the amount of community engagement in this year's process.
""We were holding too high of expectations for the blockade,"" UW-Madison junior Dan Hudson, who organized the petition, said. ""Our goal really was to improve community involvement.""
The police informed the residents that 20 police officers would show up on the street around noon to knock on doors and get to know the community members throwing parties. At sunset, an additional 20 officers will attend the block party, because according to Lt. Stephanie Bradley Wilson, most of the altercations during pervious year's parties had occurred following sundown.
""Once night comes things start changing,"" she said. ""It's your responsibility, if you're serving alcohol that everyone in your house is of age.""
Other issues of concern raised at the meeting included parking regulations, which authorities said would remain the same as every other day of the year, and the use of live music, which police said was allowed until dark.
""The number one rule to remember, besides common sense safety things, is do not take that beer into the sidewalk,"" Verveer said.
Despite the toned-down level of revelry, the police often remain rather lax towards numerous actions according to Verveer.
""The cops have always been laid back about enforcing a number of things,"" he said. ""We're just doing everything we to make sure that the riot doesn't happen again.\
