Corning Mayor Frank Coccho said Wednesday he was informed by the city’s lawyer that a petition signed by 10 percent of the city’s voters could force a referendum to strip the council of its right to pass a local law on fluoridation.

Coccho said such a petition would require about 600 signatures.

The City Council endorsed fluoridation May 7 after a private group of dentists and others raised $100,000 to pay about half the start-up costs of the project.

Coccho said Pam Gee of the Elmira law firm of Davidson & O’Mara researched the subject and concluded that a referendum is permitted under state law.

“I have notified the council and will be announcing this Aug. 6 (the next council meeting),” Coccho said. “If a private group wishes to engage in that process, it is certainly their right.”

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