The future vision for busy Fifth Avenue South calls for placing all of the power lines underground, starting with a stretch between 21st and 29th streets.

Fort Dodge City Council members who must decide if that will be done and how it will be paid for are now approaching a deadline which will determine if the work can be completed this year.

City Manager David Fierke told council members Monday night that Mid- American Energy must be given direction by April 1. He recommended burying the lines and asking the utility to add that cost to customers' bills in a move that would cost typical homeowners about $65 for one year. The full cost of the work would be paid off in that one year, he said.

Council members Matt Bemrich, Dave Flattery, Richard Inman and Curt Olson said they support that plan.

''I think it's a must for our future,'' Flattery said.

He described underground power lines as a critical investment in the retail area of the community.

''I think it would be a shame if this council doesn't go forward with this,'' he added. ''The attitude of not doing anything is what got us to where we are today.''

Council members Cindy Litwiller and Don Wilson said they're more reluctant to aggressively move forward on burying the power lines.

''I think we have to do it,'' Litwiller said. ''It's just a matter of how to do it because of the impact it will have on people. I still have some serious concerns.''

Litwiller said she would be more inclined to vote for the project if it was paid for by the city government, using general obligation bonds. Fierke said using bonds would cost the owner of a typical Fort Dodge house $127.54 in additional property taxes over 10 years.

Wilson said he believes adding the cost to the monthly electric bills would amount to a ''double whammy'' for residents. He said residents would face higher utility bills and higher taxes as the city finances other projects with property tax revenue. Businesses, he said, can pass all those costs onto their customers, but homeowners just have to pay up.

Wilson said residents are telling him they would rather see residential streets being rebuilt.

''They don't think Fifth Avenue South is a great big thing,'' he said.

Councilman Dan Payne declined to give an opinion on the project during Monday's meeting.

The underground power line project was endorsed by John Kramer, president of the Development Corporation of Fort Dodge and Webster County.

Amy Bruno, executive director of the Fort Dodge Area Chamber of Commerce, told council members that the chamber's board of directors supports the power line plan and the concept of paying for it with an added charge on the electric bills.

The council will vote on the proposal on March 23.

The city's Corridor of Commerce plan calls for widening Fifth Avenue South between 21st and 29th streets so that it has two lanes of traffic going in each direction with a turning lane in the middle. To widen the street, the utility poles on its north side must be moved. Since the power lines must be moved, there is an opportunity to bury them.

That move would conserve space in the right-of-way for sidewalks and landscaping, protect the lines from weather damage, and improve the look of the corridor, according to information Fierke presented to the council.

Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net