HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County commissioners are hopeful that a monthslong search for a suitable property to build a new prison is coming to a close, having initiated the preliminary steps to purchase the site.

“We’ve found the site, we’re just working through the process,” said Commissioner David Kessling, who declined to identify the location of the property until the final purchase agreement is inked.

Kessling said during a Thursday morning meeting the entity that owns the parcel has verbally indicated its willingness to sell the property.

“For some reason, this is taking longer than we expected, so we’re trying to push that,” Kessling said.

Commissioner Amy Webster said that many factors have contributed to the delayed project timeline, including the landowner’s internal approval process.

“They’re a very large corporation, they have properties for sale, it goes along at whatever pace and they have to get their board of directors together and make decisions on different things,” Webster said.

The county sent a letter of intent to buy the property earlier this fall, but the corporation has not returned the letter for the commissioners’ final signature.

“Everywhere you look, there is something in the way,” Webster said.

Securing an access agreement for county engineers to begin preliminary environmental impact studies on the proposed building site has been another hurdle.

According to Webster, the county requested the necessary access in October or November of this year but has not yet received approval.

The preliminary environmental study of the parcel is critical, Webster said, because certain potential issues could render the land unfit for the prison, resetting the search process “back to square one, and we don’t even want to think about that.”

Kessling said he would love to announce key details of the property, but cannot until the sale is finalized. “We’re not trying to hide anything. It’s simply until that occurs, we can’t say anything.”

The state Department of Environmental Protection offers a number of programs that subsidize cleanup and development projects on land that was previously contaminated by commercial activity — also known as brownfield sites — and State Sen. Judy Ward has offered her support in navigating this process, Kessling said.

“We’re not saying there is any, and we hope there isn’t any, but depending on what the environmental issue is, her office has indicated she could release funds to help us mitigate that if possible,” he said.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.