Lawrence needs faster Internet service.

City commissioners were able to agree on that point Tuesday night, but they couldn’t agree on whether the city should provide a $1 million loan guarantee to help a local company launch a pilot project to improve Internet speeds in the city.

Commissioners at their weekly meeting delayed taking any action on a set of financial incentives for Wicked Broadband’s proposed pilot project that would bring gigabit Internet service to about 1,200 households in downtown, East Lawrence and a few other areas of the city. Commissioners committed to give Wicked a final decision on the incentives request by Nov. 11, but said they needed answers to several financial questions about Wicked and its proposal.

“It is obvious to me that we need much better Internet access in Lawrence,” City Commissioner Terry Riordan said. “But I don’t really understand what responsibilities we would have if this company goes under. We don’t really know how solvent this company is.”

Wicked — which previously operated under the name Lawrence Freenet — is proposing to get a $1 million loan from a bank to finance the pilot project, but company leaders said the bank is insisting upon a $1 million guarantee from the city, essentially meaning the city will pay off the loan if Wicked defaults.

Commissioner Bob Schumm said the fact the bank is seeking a guarantee from the city for the full amount of the loan is a red flag.

“If the bank thinks this is a viable business plan, the bank should be taking some of the risk on this project,” Schumm said. “If the bank isn’t willing to take any of the risk, then it seems like a bad deal.”

But city commissioners heard about an hour’s worth of public comment from Wicked customers who said the company’s current Internet service is great, and that a project to bring gigabit service to the city would be a game changer for the community’s economy. The gigabit service would be the same speeds offered by the much-touted Google Fiber project in Kansas City. The service would allow for advances in telemedicine, distance learning and telecommuting and would be a magnet for startup companies, the crowd of nearly 20 supporters said.

“This investment has the potential to impact this generation and the next generation,” said Lawrence resident Joshua Davis.

Representatives from WOW and AT&T both spoke against the proposal, and said the loan guarantee and other incentives would create an un-level playing field in the local Internet service provider market.

Joshua Montgomery, a co-owner of the company, told commissioners he needs a final decision on the project by Nov. 11. He told commissioners he and his wife, Lawrence school board member Kris Adair, are in discussions that could lead to the sale of the company. Montgomery said completing the pilot project is his hope, but he said a sale would be likely if the city did not support the project.

“We don’t want to pursue that option, but it does give us the option of moving on with our lives,” Montgomery said.

The company first applied for the incentives package for the pilot project in May 2013. City Commissioner Jeremy Farmer expressed frustration that it has taken the city so long to make a decision on the project.

Commissioners asked staff members to put together a report on several questions ranging from details about the loan guarantee to legal precedents the deal may be setting. But Farmer said he thinks the city’s reluctance on the project is about a more basic question.

“I think this has more to do with with whether we think Josh and Wicked are the people to do this,” Farmer said. “I have not been given any reason to believe he can’t. But this is one of those things where if this works out, we’re going to look like geniuses, and if it doesn’t work out, we’re going to look like idiots. But this comes down to us really needing to make a decision.”

Commissioners were told to expect a report back from city staff members on Oct. 7.