ADAMS TWP — The township board of supervisors will vote on June 22 on whether to approve a joint agreement between the township and the borough of Mars to merge into one entity called Mars Township.

If approved by both the supervisors and Mars Borough Council, the move will still require approval from the voters of both municipalities in November’s general election.

Adams Township residents got another chance to express their opinion on the merger at a public hearing held at the township’s municipal building on Monday night, June 8. Three other public hearings have been held for residents of both municipalities at Twelve Oaks Mansion in Adams Township, the most recent of which occurred on June 2.

While there were some questions on Monday night about the logistics of a merger, there was little dissent from the public on the concept, which was first publicly revealed in January.

“There’s going to be a lot of bugs to work out,” said John Watson, president of the Mars Area History & Landmarks Society. “But I really feel this is a win-win and I just hope the public goes for it.”

“I moved here 10 years ago from Salt Lake City, and Pennsylvania as a whole is kind of a mystery to me with all these bureaus and townships and this and that. I’d never seen such a thing,” said Adams Township resident William Peters. “And to me, it makes a whole lot of sense to merge these entities to make the services more economical, especially with costs going up and what have you.”

A few questions remained, such as how much the combined Mars Township would have to pay for new signage once the merger took effect, and — in resident Tina Wilson’s case — how the history of the separate municipalities would be preserved.

“I really think it's important to preserve the history of not only the township, but Mars Borough,” Wilson said. “I just think in today’s world, it’s so important that the people in the area and the communities understand why we’re who we are. I love being in Adams Township and I love supporting Mars Borough and I think we really, really need to look at preserving their identities.”

While overall sentiment — at least on the Adams Township side — is still largely positive on the merger, Adams Township resident Krista Kuhl expressed concern over how the merger would impact the separate character of both places if it were to pass.

“If you have red and you have yellow and you blend them you’re going to have orange,” Kuhl said. “You’re never going to have red again. You’re never going to have yellow again. So you’ll have to decide how intensely you want to merge those two entities. You’ll want to blend in a color that allows everyone to enjoy this process.”

Residents of Mars will have their own say at a public hearing on the joint agreement on July 6 at 7 p.m. Borough council will vote on whether to approve the agreement later that night.

If the merger is approved by voters of both municipalities in November, it will become effective the first day of 2028.