Les Jordan, Bill Black and Graham Hitt were killed at St Clair, St Kilda and Aramoana respectively, between 1964 and 1968.
The 400mm by 400mm black marble plaque was instigated and financed by Levin businessman Barry Watkins (56), who was a 16-year-old school pupil surfing near the St Clair salt water pool when he was attacked by a great white shark in 1971.
To mark the 40th anniversary of the attack, he offered to commission a plaque to be placed on the esplanade in memory of the three victims.
The spate of five shark attacks in Dunedin in seven years included surfer Gary Barton at St Clair, in 1969.
Dunedin City Council community life general manager Graeme Hall said the council had resolved to contact the victims' families before making a decision, and the report would then go back to the council for ratification on July 27.
The afternoon of Friday, August 12, had "been pencilled in the mayor's diary" for the unveiling, Mr Hall said.
The family of Graham Hitt, who was 23 when he was killed, was enthusiastic about the plaque.
"It's a lovely idea. I'd like to come down for the unveiling, if possible," his younger brother, Errol Hitt, said from Rangiora.
His sister, Wendy Thompson, of Mosgiel, said the plaque would mean a lot to the Hitt family.
"It was such a terrible thing for my poor mother, who was just beside herself. She didn't cope with it very well at all.
"But you can't blame the shark. It would have just thought Graham was a seal, or something."
Mr Watkins said he would "definitely" be returning to Dunedin for the unveiling.
"It's really cool that it looks like they're going ahead with it. I spoke to Bill Black's sister, Margaret Carr, who lives in Roxburgh, and she was quite emotional about it.
"Bill Black's death certificate says 'lost at sea', because his body was never found. This will give his family some closure."
Council principal urban designer Steve Miles said four locations for the plaque had been proposed, "although council has not indicated a choice yet".
"The locations roughly correspond to the [Esplanade] alcoves and one by the shark bell," he said.
Mr Watkins was the last victim in a sequence of five attacks in the 1960s and early 1970s being studied by Auckland Department of Conservation scientific officer Clinton Duffy, who believes it was the work of a single rogue shark.
The attacks led Dunedin to become the only New Zealand city to install shark nets.
The council voted to abandon the shark-net programme last month, amid environmental concerns and after it was revealed that the nets had not caught any dangerous sharks since they were installed 40 years ago.
