Main Street Fort Dodge wants to find ways to make the roads and sidewalks of the downtown area more attractive.

Kris Patrick, the executive director of Main Street Fort Dodge, told the City Council Monday that the organization wants to hire an architect to complete a streetscape master plan.

Patrick said the group will seek grants to help pay for it.

The architect would be hired at the end of October, and a completed plan would be submitted in February or March.

In an unrelated matter, the council received a complaint about animal control.

Jeremy Leo, of Fort Dodge, told the council that he and a friend found an injured cat in the parking lot of Walmart, 3036 First Ave S., last week. He said they called the Police Department to report it.

According to Leo, they waited an hour and the animal control officer did not show up, so they called the police again. He said five hours passed before the animal control officer arrived.

He asked if a second animal control officer could be hired.

Right now, there is one animal control officer for Webster County and Fort Dodge. The officer, Blaine Hepp, is employed by the county, and the city pays the county for his services within city limits.

”It’s definitely not the perfect system,” Mayor Matt Bemrich said.

Animal control, he said, ”has been a tough one for a number of years.”