Living Word Fellowship faces lawsuits, City of Kalona continues exploring options

KALONA - Three Civil Suits were filed against the Living Word Fellowship in California, the church Shiloh was formerly associated with. However, Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said this does not prove to be an obstacle at this time as the city continues to look into the possible voluntary annexation of a portion of the property.

Schlabaugh said no formal action has been taken against the City of Kalona and he does not foresee there to be any in the near future. He would not discuss the suits but said there were allegations regarding the transfer of assets in California that could possibly be tied back to Shiloh in Kalona.

The City of Kalona has asked Shiloh's attorneys to look into the claims and will continue its 'legal due diligence” as it proceeds. Schlabaugh said the discussion he had with the law firm was simply a notification about the legal proceedings.

'We'll continue with discussions, not that this changes anything at this particular time, but it's going to require some legal assistance on a couple of different entities,” he said.

A call to Shiloh Tuesday morning was not answered.

As the city waits to hear more, it is continuing to look into possible ways to use the 90,000 square foot building on the Shiloh premises.

Multiple committee meetings have been held with local entities weighing in on how they could possibly use the space. On June 11, the Mid-Prairie School District Building Committee will take a tour to help determine their possible interest in the space.

'It will probably be a busy meeting out there as they start to see that some of the facilities lend themselves to different use,” he said. 'We'll re-bring the committee together the week after that once we have a little more clarity.”

Carl A. Nelson and Company and RDG Design are actively working with the city for layout and facility planning as the project moves forward.