CENTER TWP — Township supervisors are remaining cautiously optimistic about a proposed new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs center along North Duffy Road, despite having little information on the project.

The VA last week awarded a lease contract for a 168,000-square-foot health care center to Cambridge Healthcare Solutions PA, LP of Vienna, Va.

Genevieve Billia, a spokesman for the VA, confirmed in an e-mail to the Butler Eagle on Monday that the new center is slated to be built in Center Township on property belonging to Dale Herold.

The listed address for the site is 395 N. Duffy Road, Billia said.

Township supervisors said on Monday that news of the project is good for the township, but added they have had little to no interaction with the VA or the developer of the project since late 2013.

Supervisor Ken Frenchak said Cambridge is set to visit the township for a 9 a.m. meeting Monday, but said the township heard nothing else on the project.

“I found out (from reporters),” Frenchak said about the announcement. “We were the last ones to know.”

The center will be a two-story building on North Duffy Road about 1.4 miles from the Butler Township campus on New Castle Road, according to VA Butler Healthcare.

Two residents along North Duffy Road raised concerns to township supervisors Monday night about increased traffic the center will bring to the road.

“My concern is traffic flow,” said one resident along Cornell Drive, which intersects North Duffy Road south of Herold’s property. “Traffic is currently a mess. I had to wait five minutes just to turn onto (North Duffy Road) to come to this meeting.”

Both residents also expressed concern about whether the township would be paying for any road improvements the project would need.

“We haven’t sat down and hashed out anything with Cambridge,” said Chairman Ed Latuska.

Supervisors said they met with the developer in 2013 and said they supported the project, but have not locked into funding any of the road improvements expected to be needed.

“We haven’t promised them anything,” said Supervisor Philip Wulff.

Township engineer Ron Olsen said work would need to be done to improve the sight distance along North Duffy Road, and said a traffic study would determine how much the road would need to be widened.

Frenchak said the township couldn’t really say what road improvements will need to be done or at what cost due to the early stage of the project.

“We haven’t seen any plans or anything,” he said. “We don’t know.”

VA Butler Healthcare will occupy the center for 20 years. Cambridge will be paid $8.4 million in annual rent after an initial rent abatement period.

The VA will pay no rent for the first 14 months of the lease and will pay about $7 million in rent and operating expenses for the next two years.

Billia said a groundbreaking has not been set for the center, although Cambridge has a set time frame to finish the project.

“Cambridge Healthcare Solutions PA LP, contractually, has 31 months to construct the facility,” she said in an e-mail. “VA estimates that an additional six months after the 31-month construction period will be needed to install VA equipment, furniture, etc., before patients are seen.”

The center will expand VA Butler Healthcare’s outpatient services to meet increasing demand and will include primary care, specialty care, dental, lab, pathology, radiology, mental health, and ancillary and diagnostic services.

Billia said the new 60-bed Community Living Center, new 56-bed domiciliary, fire station, engineering, police support buildings and services will remain at the existing VA campus on New Castle Road.

The site in Center Township was one of four considered for the new center after original plans to build at the Deshon Woods site on Route 68 in Butler Township fell through.

The VA in August 2013 canceled its $75 million agreement with Westar Development, accusing the developer of making false and misleading representations during the lease process.

Westar had cut down trees and started to develop the land that was to become home to a three-story, 168,000-square-foot building.

When the VA put the project back out to consideration, the Deshon Woods lot, the North Duffy Road property and two other locations were listed as contenders for the contract.

The other two locations were properties along Lions Road in Butler Township and the Mount Chestnut Golf Course at the intersection of North Road and Route 422 in Franklin Township.