When it comes to fluoride in drinking water, Homer village trustees say keep it out. Right now, the village adds one part fluoride per million gallons of water to the drinking supply.

Tuesday night, the board voted 3 to 2 to stop doing that.

“It seems like in every report that we have, it seems like there’s something in there that the other report rebuts, so it’s so hard to make a decision and you kind of have to go with your gut feeling,” said Homer village Mayor Mike McDermott.

Trustee Roy Crandall asked the board to take fluoride out of the water after he says he learned how dangerous it can be.

Too much fluoride is defined by the Environmental Protection Agency as more than 4 parts per million gallons of water. Any more than that can cause fluorosis, a condition that damages teeth. Some studies even suggest too much fluoride can cause bone cancer and other health problems.

Village trustee Roy Crandall said, “I think given the choice, we have fluoride in everything we eat and drink, we don’t have it in our water.”

The fluoride issue has been a controversial one. After a contentious public hearing last month, trustees took time to weigh the pros and cons.

“It’s not something we just jumped into, we did study it and I don’t know if we still know because we are lay people and you know there are a lot of things in these reports we get that are technical,” said McDermott.

Mayor McDermott says the board may decide to revisit the issue later. He says now, Marathon is the only village in Cortland County that fluoridates it’s water.

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