MARYVILLE — An executive of a Blount County utility says he hopes a coming vote by customers on whether to continue fluoridating the water it provides will “put the issue to bed one way or the other.”

… Henry Durant, manager of the district, said customers will receive postcard ballots in early May.

Customers, he said, can return the postcard ballots during a period of several weeks, having voted for or against fluoridation “to try to put pretty much the final word” on the contentious issue.

… The utility takes no position for or against fluoridation, he said.

But Linda King, the driving force behind the community activist group Citizens for Blount County’s Future, says that if the vote favors continuing to put fluoride in the water, then her group’s efforts to “educate” SBCUD commissioners and customers about the danger of fluoride will proceed apace…

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