Snowmass board takes up fluoride today

After conducting a survey in which a majority of its customers favored fluoride in their drinking water, the board of the Snowmass Water and Sanitation District will take another look today at the practice in a meeting expected to be well-attended by the public.

The meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. and has been moved to the Living Room in the Snowmass Club to accommodate the extra attendees. A practice that sparks controversy in many communities, fluoridation was discontinued by the board in July, sparking a public debate that led the district to reconsider its decision and reach out to customers with a mail-in survey.

Sixty-four percent of the 1,168 customers who responded said they favored fluoride, according to the results of the survey, which the district released last week. While that it is a majority, board president Joe Farrell cautioned the public to remember that a decision had not been made prior to the meeting.

“The board still hasn’t made up their mind,” said Farrell, who was the lone dissenting vote when the board approved a motion to discontinue fluoridation in July.

The board might not even take another vote today, but the members will certainly take public comment, Farrell said. The district hasn’t lined up any experts or health professionals to speak but did provide links to resources on its website.

“I imagine there’ll be a lot of people,” Farrell said. “There’s a lot of interested people still wondering what’s going to happen with fluoride.”

For more information, visit http://www.swsd.org.

jill@snowmasssun.com