ADAMS TWP — MHY Family Services is taking the Mars School District to county court to fight the school board’s decision to take 17 acres from MHY through eminent domain.

MHY Family Services officials on Tuesday filed preliminary objections to the district’s “Declaration of Taking.”

The school board voted on June 21 to take the land on Three Degree Road across from the Mars Middle School. Board members said the action would preserve the future of the Mars Area Soccer Club, which practices on the land.

The district and MHY Family Services had been in talks for two years regarding Mars buying the land from MHY, but no deal was ever reached, said district solicitor Tom King.

The school board voted last month to pay MHY $780,750 for the acreage.

A news release from MHY Family Services states that the land was bought by the United Presbyterian Women’s Association of North America more than 80 years ago, and supplied the organization with the means to continue providing trauma-based services to youths.

“MHY Family Services has a responsibility to our community and to the families and youth we serve,” said Lisa Schiller, MHY executive director. “We must operate in a fiscally responsible manner so that we can continue to serve a population that otherwise could be unserved.”

She said the objection was filed based on state school code, which protects institutions of learning. The MHY campus is home to Longmore Academy, which educates students in grades one through 12.

“We had hoped that this issue could be resolved in a neighborly fashion,” Schiller said, “but regretfully we were forced to take legal action to protect the future of our organization.”

King said on Wednesday that he is confident that the district will prevail in any court action on the matter.

“That’s their right,” King said of the filing. “We’ll be prepared to defend our position in court.”

School board President Dayle Ferguson said in June that the leaders of the youth soccer club have expressed concern that the land would be used for other purposes at some time by MHY.

“They were very concerned that they wouldn’t have a place to play,” Ferguson said.

She said the land could be blended with land bought a few years ago just north of Doc’s Way where new soccer fields are planned.