Finances, new library lead discussions at fifth Mars/Adams merger meeting
ADAMS TWP — With just over a month remaining until Mars Borough and Adams Township residents decide if their two municipalities will merge, boards from the municipalities met publicly for a fifth time to share more details and hear out concerns.
The conversations around the proposed merger at the meeting Thursday evening, Oct. 1, primarily focused on how the municipalities’ finances would be impacted and some potential designs of the proposed community library.
The merger proposal, which would combine the two into “Mars Township,” is set to be placed as a referendum before voters in both municipalities in the upcoming general election on Nov. 3.
After discussing some items related to the election, such as how the question will appear on the ballot, Thursday’s presentation shifted focus to the Mars Borough budget.
Adams Township Supervisor Russell Ford said if the merger were to go through, the area comprising Mars Borough would reduce its income by roughly $200,000 — with about $160,000 being from the tax reduction from 25.33 mill to Adams Township’s 3.75 mills.
However, due to eliminating redundant or duplicate expenses, the borough’s budget would end with a $50,000 surplus.
“When you start to look at duplicate items, things like the audit, professional services, insurance, all of them will be eliminated expenses if it becomes one entity,” Ford said.
Ford and Mars Borough Council President G. Michael Fleming reiterated that while some part-time positions may be eliminated, all full-time borough employees will be offered a position with the township.
The complete hypothetical budget will be available on the presentation through Adams Township’s dedicated merger webpage in coming days, Ford said.
After sharing the budget, officials transitioned their discussion to the new, proposed library.
Angela Baehr, owner of FJ Baehr Architects, gave a short presentation showing three mock-ups of the library.
“The existing library has served the community for many years, but it has outlived its life in its current building. The building is in need of substantial repairs,” Baehr said. “The library building and site are limited and there is a need for additional community gathering and meeting spaces.”
She said discussions with the municipal and library boards resulted in a plan to dedicate the first floor to meeting spaces, public restrooms and a NexTier Bank branch.
The second and third floors would host the library itself. The building’s basement would include additional meeting spaces, while the fourth floor would be reserved as “future space.”
“Before we disclose these three (mock-ups), we want to let everybody know that a decision has not been made and we wanted to reveal it to the public tonight to get your feedback. We understand you might hate all three and we’ll be back at the drawing board,” Ford said.
Janae Callihan, director of the library, also spoke on behalf of the library board to announce it is supportive of the merger and would absolutely benefit from a new building.
“The board believes this merger creates a stronger path forward for the library, giving us greater opportunity to address our long-term facility and community needs,” she said.
Before the meeting ended, the municipal boards asked attendees to vote by show of hands for their favorite of the three designs. The audience and board overwhelmingly voted for the third design, which featured a stone base and brick upper floors.
The two municipalities will hold a sixth and final meeting on the merger at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, at the Adams Township municipal building.
