ADAMS TWP. — Adams Township supervisors unanimously approved an addendum Monday night to the proposed merger agreement with Mars Borough, completing the final municipal action before the question can appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
Township officials said the revisions were administrative in nature and did not alter the terms of the proposed merger.
The action follows a 5-1 vote by Mars Borough Council last week approving the same addendum after a request from the Butler County Bureau of Elections.
Following Monday’s vote, Township Manager Mike Tylka said the county requested several clarifications to ensure every elected office affected by the merger was specifically addressed in the agreement.
“The county elections office requested us to further clarify two provisions in the merger agreement,” Tylka said. “One is that Mars residents in 2027 will be able to vote on the open Adams Township auditor and constable positions. The other piece is that the Mars constable position is eliminated with the merger.”
Tylka said the county also wanted the agreement to clearly identify every elected office affected by the merger.
The Adams Township Municipal Building will host the fourth public informational meeting on the proposed merger Tuesday evening at 6 pm. Voters will decide the proposed merger during the Nov. 3 referendum.
Election Bureau Requested Administrative Clarifications
In a written statement to The 228 Times, Butler County Bureau of Elections Director Chantell McCurdy said the changes resulted from the county’s review of the merger documents.
“After the packet submitted from the municipal attorneys was reviewed by our office and the County Solicitor, we felt there were some clarifications that needed to be made,” McCurdy wrote.
She said the addendum was recommended to keep the merger language consistent with the Pennsylvania Election Code while ensuring every elected office affected by the merger was addressed.
“For instance, the original document did not acknowledge the position of constable,” McCurdy wrote. “There is currently a position elected to Constable in Mars Borough.”
McCurdy said those recommendations were forwarded to the municipalities’ attorneys, who prepared the addendum.
Three Clarifications Added
During last week’s Mars Borough Council meeting, Borough Solicitor Christopher Reese explained that the Bureau of Elections requested three clarifications before the referendum language could move forward.
The addendum specifies that:
- Mars Borough voters will join Adams Township voters in electing one township supervisor during the 2027 election cycle.
- The elected offices of Mars mayor, borough council members, tax collector and borough constable will be eliminated when the merger takes effect Jan. 1, 2028.
- Those elected offices will end on the merger’s effective date even if officeholders have remaining time in their terms.
Reese said the revisions do not alter the merger agreement itself but were requested to satisfy election requirements before the referendum appears on the November ballot.
Referendum Moves Forward
Following Monday night’s vote, board members said the completed paperwork would be filed Tuesday, July 28 with the Butler County Courthouse, allowing the referendum question to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.
If approved by voters in both municipalities, Mars Borough and Adams Township would merge into a single municipality known as Mars Township effective Jan. 1, 2028.
The two municipalities will hold the fourth public informational meeting on the proposed merger at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Adams Township Municipal Building, where officials are expected to answer additional questions from residents before the November referendum.