A vacant area on the southeast side of the intersection of South 15th Street and Fifth Avenue South is now available for redevelopment purposes following an approval vote from the Fort Dodge City Council Monday.

The city had originally acquired the lots to clean up a blighted area and to identify a developer to reinvest in it. With the cleaning complete, proposals for other opportunities can now be received.

City Clerk Dawn Siebken shared news regarding the PICA organization that does volunteer landscaping around the city.

PICA recently celebrated its 24th year with an awards dinner where 12 individuals were lauded for their efforts. They were Wally Schlienz and Curt Lehman (20 hours of service), Tim Anderson (50 hours of service), Bev Baedke, Curt Detrig, and Doug Spencer (100 hours of service), Greg Baedke, Lee DeJong, Larry Gilbert and Rollie Peterson (200 hours of service), and LuAnn Niemand and Cheryl Lychwick (600 hours of service).

In other business, the council:

n Approved Vicki Reeck to take a seat on the Municipal Housing Agency Commission, following Mark Campbell’s departure from the board.

n Approved Matt Johnson to take over Deb Johnson’s seat on the Fort Dodge Regional Airport Commission

Both Johnson and Reeck will serve through November 2031.

The council also hired Snyder & Associates, which has an office in Fort Dodge, to prepare the final plans for rebuilding Third Avenue Northwest between Seventh and 10th streets northwest for $327,100.

That street project is expected to start in May 2026 and be complete by the end of that year.