Water flows through Dale Herold's land in Center Township after a light rain on July 5. Herold said the stream is now a regular feature since the construction of the neighboring Abie Abraham VA Health Care Center.

CENTER TWP — The Center Township board of supervisors positioned itself Tuesday to strong-arm the owner of the township's new Veteran's Affairs center into repairing the facility's lackluster stormwater drainage system.

The area off Duffy Road is quickly transforming from the site of the Herold family farm to a growing new development. Last year, the Abie Abraham VA Health Care Center opened. Across the street, developer Bob Brennan is developing homes.

However, members of the Herold family, particularly Dale Herold, say the facility's water run-off systems are not properly containing water and are turning the Herold's remaining farmland to wetlands.

The family sold about 46 acres to Cambridge Healthcare Solutions, which built the VA center and is now leasing it to the federal government.

A walk through Herold's land reveals squishy earth and flowing water where he says there previously was none.

During a light rain last week, Herold pointed to water flowing from one of several stormwater drain pipes outside the VA's parking lot.

“What you see coming out of there is coming straight to us,” Herold said.

Herold said they're not upset with the project overall, but they feel the building isn't properly finished until the run-off problem is resolved.

“In plain words, we're not satisfied,” Herold said.

Ronald Flatt, chairman of the Center Township board of supervisors, agrees. He said the existing system was a “creative” Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection plan to maneuver around a highly pressurized gas pipe, but that a more traditional system would work better.

“It currently is not working,” Flatt said. “The retention ponds are not doing their jobs at all.”

The township still holds $679,000 in bond money from Cambridge Healthcare. Flatt said they're waiting until the company requests its cash, at which point the township's engineering counsel will have to assess the project and determine whether they've fit the site plans the board approved in 2014. They hope to see the company correct drainage problems, using the money as leverage.

In the meantime, the board agreed Tuesday to put Supervisor Alan Smallwood in charge of working with Brennan to develop a stormwater system for his development that would match a corrected VA system, rather than the existing drainage. This move, Flatt said, better positions the township for potential talks with Cambridge down the line.