A zoning change needed for more townhomes on the east side of Fort Dodge was advanced again Monday by the City Council.

Talon Development, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is preparing to expand its District 29 neighborhood near Dodger Drive and North 29th Street. The first phase of construction will include nine buildings, each containing six townhomes. The second phase will include nine more buildings, each containing five townhomes.

These will be built south of the current District 29 buildings.

Each townhome will have three bedrooms and a two-car garage. They will be market rate rental units.

A zoning change that would switch the designation of about nine acres from agricultural to multifamily residential is needed. The council approved the second reading of that change Monday. The change must be approved once more to become law.

And while the weather is turning distinctly summer-like, the council moved Monday to lock in a price for the salt that will be needed on the roads next winter.

The council voted to buy salt from BlackStrap Inc., of Neligh, Nebraska, for $78.25 per ton.

Central Salt LLC, of Lyons, Kansas, offered the only other bid of $85.57 per ton.