LEBANON — The Warren County commissioners came under increasing pressure Thursday to back Middletown Regional Hospital's plans for a health and technology campus in Turtlecreek Township.

        “They're going to Greentree Road,” township Trustee Dan George told commissioners. “... Look what position you're putting Turtlecreek Township in by posturing here.”

        The commissioners reiterated that they want Middletown Regional to build at Ohio 122 rather than two miles south on Interstate 75 at Greentree Road, where the hospital has secured land.

        “It's not reality,” Mr. George responded.

        Middletown Regional — now on McKnight Drive in Middletown — has been working for almost a year to sell its vision of a $125 million hospital surrounded by educational, research and industrial facilities.

        The pro-business Area Progress Council of Warren County — backed by all area school superintendents — urged the commissioners Thursday to support the project. The county has a “negative image” in regard to keeping and attracting companies, President John McMinn said.

        “Only business adds value that can create the revenue which sustains a community or county,” he said.

        But the commissioners and some neighbors say Greentree Road is a rural area that can't handle the traffic a 550-acre development would bring.

        “Our fear is that we will end up with another Deerfield Township, with all these cars and no one can move,” Commissioner Mike Kilburn said.

        The township has reopened negotiations with Middletown over annexation of the Greentree site, Mr. George told the commissioners, asking them to join in.

        If the township can't strike a deal with that city to protect residents, Monroe — which is closer to the site — could annex without making any concessions, he said. Commissioner Pat South agreed and said she supported trustees' efforts.

        But the commissioners said they can't take part in negotiations because they have a quasi-judicial role in deciding annexation requests.

        Among the terms Turtlecreek is seeking:

        • 25 percent of earnings-tax revenue in the annexed area, which would be given to the county to pay for road improvements.

        • A guarantee that residents will not be assessed fees for infrastructure.

        • No support for a new interchange at Greentree and I-75 for at least eight years.

        “I think it's a good starting place to sit down and start negotiating again,” Middletown Mayor David Schiavone said Thursday.

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