CASSADAGA - Plans are being finalized for the public meeting Monday concerning fluoridation of water in the Cassadaga water system. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the village offices.
The board already approved including a storage area for fluoride in the plans for its well site building. This area must be separate from where other chemicals are stored. Although the board has not yet taken a vote on whether to fluoridate the system, it did decide to make provision for storage of fluoride now. Board members reasoned that even if fluoridation was not approved initially, it might be at some other date.
Deputy Mayor Rodney Waite, a dentist and proponent of fluoridation, said, "Hopefully we will get a lot of people so that they can have their questions answered. I will have an outline and an agenda and I encourage people to bring their questions. I want to give people good information. Some of the things on the internet are amazing. Some of the studies there are not good science."
Article Photos
OBSERVER Photo by Diane R. Chodan
The Cassadaga Village Board plans to hold a meeting concerning whether the water should be fluoridated. Left to right are: Town Clerk Roxanne Astry, Mayor LeeAnn Lazarony and Deputy Mayor Rodney Waite. The board is urging residents to attend the meeting to receive information and ask questions.
Waite explained a good study is peer-reviewed, meaning that scientists review the study before the conclusions are printed. Those types of studies are printed in medical journals.
Councilman Ronald DeChard, although not present at the meeting, reached out to the Chautauqua County Health Department. As a result, Paul Snyder from that department will be attending. It is also possible that a representative from the New York State Department of Health will attend. If he cannot come in person, he might be able to participate using a speaker phone.
Greg McCorkhill, the consulting engineer for the water project, will attend the meeting. He will not be taking a position on the decision, but will explain the technical parts of the engineering if fluoride is used.
Waite said he would have copies of the one-page document, 10 reasons to fluoridate public water. He will also have a longer document available which people can look at. Those who want a copy can sign up.
Comments on this article may be directed to dchodan@observertoday.com
