Approval given to study possible high-speed Internet utility in Decorah

The Decorah City Council has given unanimous approval to seeking bids on a study of the feasibility of creating a public utility to provide high-speed Internet service and other communications services in Decorah.

It's a major step for the city, to ask for bids on a contract to perform a study of how feasible a city-owned utility would be.

The city's Telecommunications Utility Board and City Administrator Chad Bird have created a request for proposals for the work.  The "RFP" will be sent to 12 to 14 consultants, will be posted with the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities and will be published locally.

The utility board wants bids submitted by March 31st, with the final feasibility study completed by June 30th.