The Kalona City Council approved a prospective purchase agreement on Monday for land that the city hopes will eventually become a new emergency management center.

According to Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh, the building would be a centralized location for all of Kalona’s volunteer first responders. The city is also working with county-wide first responders such as the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Washington County Ambulance to determine if those agencies would be interested in and able to station staff and equipment in the northern half of the county.

The land is made up of two parcels at 503 10th Street and 502 9th Street and is currently in the process of an environmental review by Eocene Environmental Group, which was approved by the council last month.

The agreement shows the city’s intention to make the purchase contingent on continuing negotiations between the city and the current landowners as well as “doing its due diligence” as it waits on the results of the environmental review, which has completed its physical inspection of the premises and is now working on a review of historical land uses.

The facility was initially conceived of prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the pandemic response halted talks in 2020.

City officials and the current land owners have not yet settled on a price point.