The Fort Dodge City Council on Monday moved forward with the process of setting up an internal loan for the broadband utility, but postponed any action related to significantly altering the traffic pattern on North 15th Street.

The council scheduled a May 12 public hearing on authorizing an internal loan of about $2.8 million for Fort Dodge Fiber.

“While a temporary internal loan will be used to meet short-term capital needs, this does not reflect a weakness in the utility’s financial outlook,” City Manager David Fierke wrote in a report to the council. “The loan was necessitated by additional costs and a delay in fiber ring construction, which pushed back the timeline for initial customer connections by nearly a year. Once customer connections are fully established, net revenues from the fiber utility will be more than sufficient to cover both the existing debt and the new internal loan.”

“This is a timing issue, not a revenue issue, and one we are well-positioned to manage,” he added.

The council postponed action on an agreement for $500,000 from the state Department of Transportation that would help pay for the North 15th Street proposal.

That proposal would address 15th Street between Second and 20th avenues north. It would convert the street from four lanes to one with one lane of traffic in each direction with a center turning lane.

The council plans to schedule a workshop at a later date to fully explain the proposed project.