The issue of whether to keep adding fluoride to Hampton’s water was tabled indefinitely during a City Council workshop Monday night.

Mayor Shawn Dietz said after council members gathered input from citizens it was decided that the a majority of them want to keep adding fluoride to the city’s water.

“The decision of the council basically was to leave it on the table indefinitely,” he said.

Last month Dietz asked for a motion to have the city attorney draft an ordinance to repeal the current ordinance requiring the city to add fluoride to the water. He felt that it was a medicine and putting it in the city’s water infringed on individual rights.

The topic of fluoridation has come up many times over the years, with the last time in 2005 and 2006. The council decided then to keep adding it to the city’s water.

Local dentists spoke in favor of fluoridation then and at recent meetings citing its benefits to help prevent tooth decay, especially in children.

Dietz said he won’t ask for the topic to be placed on future agendas. The only way it would come up again is if a council member or citizen asked for it be on a council meeting agenda, he said.

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