The Abilene City Council voted to repeal the ordinance that authorized adding fluoride to the city's water supply, permanently ending the municipal fluoridation program.

Council members voted to repeal Ordinance 532000 on final reading; Councilman Price and Councilman McAllister voted no and the remaining members voted yes. With the ordinance's passage, staff will notify the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and provide a 60-day customer notice as required by regulations before the city completes the change.

City Water Utilities Director Rodney Taylor told the council the item before them was a final-reading ordinance to "permanently discontinue fluoridation of Abilene's public water supply." He said the city initially implemented fluoridation under Ordinance 532000 in November 2000 and had maintained the program until a recent court ruling prompted staff to pause adding fluoride.

Taylor explained that a federal district court ruling in Northern California led regulators to reexamine recommended dosage levels and that, as a cautionary step, staff stopped adding fluoride in September and the council passed a temporary suspension in November. "With passage, we would take action to notify the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, to provide a 60 day notice as required by regulations and notify our customers with a 60 day notice of the results of this ordinance," Taylor said.

Members of the public addressed the council during the public hearing. Jennifer Bell, who identified herself as a longtime resident, told the council she supported permanently ending fluoridation: "You guys know I'm against or I'm in favor of permanently ending water fluoridation." Tammy Fogel, who spoke later and identified herself as a community leader, asked that the council consider sending the issue to voters instead of deciding it at the dais, arguing the 2000 action was politically and procedurally distinct from other ballot measures. Eric Bangs said he favored public voting on the issue because it originated from a prior action tied to voters.

Council debate addressed two strains of reasoning: some members said the temporary suspension enacted earlier was appropriate while federal review was pending and preferred to wait for further EPA or court guidance; others said the recent federal court action and available studies justified ending the city's active fluoridation program now. The mayor (who moved the repeal) framed the vote as a public-safety precaution: "If there is an inkling that this could be detrimental to health, I think we need to act on it," the mayor said before moving to permanently discontinue the practice.

Councilman Price and Councilman McAllister voted no. The council recorded no other roll-call dissent; the motion carried.

The ordinance repeals the city's prior authorization to add fluoride. The change does not remove naturally occurring fluoride already present in water sources; it stops the city from adding supplemental fluoride at treatment facilities. The city will send a 60-day notice to "customers" as described in the ordinance packet; staff said that notice will be sent to all direct city water customers and associated systems that purchase city water.

With passage, the temporary suspension ordinance enacted earlier remains a separate item in the record; staff said the new action triggers the customer-notification process and leaves the council able to revisit the issue if subsequent EPA regulations or court rulings change the federal guidance.

The council's action: repeal of Ordinance 532000 to permanently discontinue municipal addition of fluoride to Abilene's water supply; vote recorded as 6 yes, 2 no (Councilman Price and Councilman McAllister).