Mount Pleasant residents wanted to know when fluorid will be taken out of their water at Monday’s Cit Commission meeting

City officials said the fluoride has not been removed and residents asked when it would be done.

Voters approved city Proposal 1 by a 52 percent to 48 percent majority Nov. 2, forcing the city purification plant to stop adding the compound to the water.

City Clerk Rob Flynn said 30 days is the standard for any new ordinance to be implemented.

City Manager Paul Preston said it takes time to organize something like this.

“As has been said all along, we are uncertain of all the ramifications of the ordinance. We do not have to remove it at this point,” he said.

Preston said further information has been requested from city officials to help finalize the matter and make sure everything needing to be done is done.

Local lawyer Joseph Barberi said he did not expect the proposal to gain approval, but since this is what people want and the United States is a democracy, the water needs to be changed as soon as possible.

He said the wording of the ordinance was set at one point, but was reworded to create more clarity. Unfortunately the opposite occurred, making the ordinance seem to be unenforceable.

The ordinance states anything added to the city water must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

City officials say the FDA does not regulate city water supplies.

Flynn said whether the wording makes the ordinance unenforceable is up to the City Attorney, who is currently working on it.

Barberi has been hired to represent city residents on this issue. He said everyone was hoping this issue will not have to be taken to court, but he cannot be sure this will not happen if the fluoride is not promptly removed.

He also said the only thing the city needs to do is stop adding the fluoride. Everyone agrees fluoride in toothpaste is beneficial, he said, but he argued the benefit of ingesting it.

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