MIDDLESEX TWP — While the three township supervisors have no comment on a group’s effort to raise the number of supervisors to five, several residents do.

A group spearheaded by Crystal Yost this month gathered enough signatures on a petition to have the issue placed on the Nov. 4 ballot. The referendum question that will face voters in the township’s two polling places asks if they think the number of supervisors should be increased from three to five.

Yost, who is a vocal member of the parent group in the Mars School District that sought a 2-mile overlay around district schools to prevent shale gas drilling near students, said the door-to-door petition campaign she and other residents engaged in shows that citizens think five supervisors would better represent the community’s interests.

The supervisors did not approve the 2-mile overlay, but Yost said she engaged in the referendum effort as a township resident and not as a representative of the parent group.

On Wednesday, the county commissioners, acting as the county board of elections, approved the Middlesex referendum for the fall ballot.

Township solicitor Michael Hnath said Middlesex will not attempt to stop the action to add two supervisors.

“There’s no reason to file an objection,” Hnath said. “We’ll wait to see what the voters say.”

The supervisors, Mike Spreng, Don Marshall and James “Hap” Evans, said at the Wednesday evening township meeting they had no comment on the referendum.

Some Middlesex residents have mixed opinions on the issue.

Bruce Kennedy said the township is doing fine. He said the referendum effort is a result of the parents group not getting its way regarding the 2-mile overlay.

“Because somebody doesn’t have the supervisors who support their opinion, that’s no reason to throw the people out who are doing a good job,” he said.

Susan Salter does not believe two more supervisors would hurt Middlesex.

“We’re fine, but if we have five, that’s fine, too,” Salter said.

Paul Augustine said the three supervisors are longtime or lifelong Middlesex residents and are working to retain the rural character of the township.

“New people will want sidewalks and street lights,” Augustine said. “This is a rural community.”

Emily Haver favors increasing the board from three to five supervisors.

“It will better represent the community,” Haver said.

Harold Kennedy, who has property in both Adams and Middlesex townships, agreed.

“Leave Middlesex alone,” Kennedy said. “We’ve got a good board of supervisors. Adams has a very good board, too.”

He said new residents on a five-member Middlesex board would steer the township toward overdevelopment.

“(The current supervisors) are keeping us from turning into Cranberry,” Kennedy said.

Yost said earlier this week that additional supervisors would be advantageous to the township.

“We are a group of residents who recognize that the township is growing and changing,” Yost said. “After attending some meetings, I feel like adding two would give better representation to the township as a whole.”

Yost said in her door-to-door canvas to fill the petition she encountered longtime residents who are unhappy with the current supervisors and support adding two supervisors.

“Lots of people have been waiting for something like this,” Yost said.

To be eligible for referendum consideration, the petition had to have a number of signatures amounting to 5 percent of the municipality’s voters.

In Middlesex, the minimum number of names needed is 150. The petition has 243.

Middlesex has 3,008 voters.