At the November 19 Thermopolis Town Council meeting, Mayor Adam Estenson swore in new officer Jonathan Bartlett.
Marshall Keller presented an ordinance for its second reading where the town will revoke fluoride being added to the water system. During the council’s discussion, council member Rachel Hughes said that she talked to her dentist about the matter and that she was changing her vote based upon the information.
Hughes added, “The people that it will impact the most are ages 0 to 12. No amount of fluoride toothpaste rinse or any of that will help with because you need to adjust it. To do that, you’d have to get a prescription from your dentist, which she does recommend, and she’s done that for her own children. I just thought that was another hoop to go through for some lower-income people or certain people that may not have dental insurance and I just didn’t like the thought of that. I thought it’s very preventative, and it is a benefit. I’m just gonna change my vote on that.”
Council member Dusty Lewis asked to confirm if the treatment was from ingesting fluoride. Council member Hughes replied, “Yes,” and that her dentist said, “You can definitely tell a community that doesn’t have it and a community that has.”
Mayor Estenson and the council discussed where the residents of Thermopolis are getting their drinking water, such as from bottled water, or filtered, or that they haul their water.
Mayor Estenson also said that he heard the way children are getting fluoride treatment. “It was more in the rinsing of the toothpaste. It was that exposure in the mouth. It wasn’t necessarily the ingesting part of it that helped the enamel of a developing child’s teeth.”
He added, “That is actually the first time I’ve heard of the ingesting actually being helpful, there’s a lot of pseudoscience on the matter. There are not a lot of really good studies, but there are a few studies that are better and basically saying that the side effects of the rest of the population ingesting fluoride doesn’t really benefit that…the other part is, if it’s the council’s wish to kind of backtrack a little and say we’re going to keep fluoride, we are going to have to look at a little bit of an investment into updating our injection system, because it is it is aged out, which was kind of part of the impetus of bringing this at a certain time. That would be another matter if we decide not to move in this direction.
The council voted and passed the approval of the fluoride ordinance in its second reading, with all in favor except council member Hughes, who voted against. This ordinance will come again at the next town council meeting for its third and final reading. If it passes the third reading, it will become part of town code after being published in a legal ad in the Independent Record.
Council member Lewis asked if there were any updates or latest information on the recent officer involved shooting. Mayor Estenson replied, “We have had radio silence. We know it was kicked to the special prosecutor in Fremont County. Fremont County has it now, and it’s in their review. The investigation on the officer’s part was completed, as far as we know, from DCI. But that all was turned over to them, and we haven’t heard anything at this point.”
Director of Public Works Basil Sorensen reported that they recently completed the sanitation survey and that they graded the road near the Roundtop trailhead. Sorenson also said that they had installed a stop sign which improved the traffic in that area and slowed drivers down.
Town Engineer Anthony Barnett reported that they recently completed the survey of well monitor sampling at the landfill and they have to wait one year to hear back the results.
Mayor Estenson reported that the town closed on the land purchase for the coming transfer station and that permitting with the DEQ will be next as they go forward.
Original article online at: https://www.thermopir.com/story/2024/11/28/news/town-passes-fluoride-ordinance-on-second-reading/15298.html