MARS — The borough is in the middle of deciding between two vendors for its next emergency alert notification system.

The choices come down to the Smart911 Rave Alert system, used by neighboring Adams Township, and the Regroup emergency alert system, implemented by Butler County earlier this month.

During a meeting Monday, Feb. 16, Councilman John McWilliams said council will likely vote on its choice of vendor at its next meeting, planned to be held Monday, March 2. The two weeks will give council time to determine the prices of the two vendors.

Mars is in the process of replacing its current emergency alert vendor, CodeRED, as the result of a nationwide cybersecurity attack which took the entire CodeRED system offline in November 2025.

“We used to have CodeRED, but then CodeRED had its problems,” said McWilliams.

Andrew Schultheis, Mars’ public works foreman, stressed the need for the borough to have an emergency notification system, as Mars has its own water system.

“We, as a borough, need that since we have a water department,” Schultheis said. “So if I do not have an emergency notification system in place and I have to put on a boil water alert, we’re going to be hand delivering 650 letters personally door to door.”