The Common Council agreed Tuesday to delay the vote on Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s Halloween proposal until Sept. 19. We applaud the efforts of both Ald. Austin King and Ald. Mike Verveer to push the decision back — a plan finalized on the first day of class would have been doomed to ignore students, the party’s primary participants.

And now it’s time for the student body to speak up. A meeting has been scheduled for Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in 165 Bascom Hall to generate discussion and gather student input about the festivities. The meeting was organized for the benefit of the students and cannot be ignored.

The proposal has serious shortcomings in safety and practicality that must be addressed before it is approved. Beyond removing the capacity on State Street, we must reiterate that the idea of using construction fencing to cage a group of rowdy students is intrinsically flawed. Additionally, provisions must be made for the surrounding neighborhoods — overflow from a potentially throttled party could be sizable.

The future of Halloween in Madison will be in jeopardy should anything go wrong this October, and there is no doubt who has the control, ultimately, to keep that from happening. Students can make it work.

If students fail to show up to this meeting and take advantage of having the city council’s attention, this board offers no sympathy to those who complain when Halloween goes awry and is consequently closed down.

Editorial Board opinions are crafted independently of news coverage.