By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Grayson City Council heard a presentation by April Frazier at their regularly scheduled January meeting. The presentation was a follow-up to her presentation to the Grayson Tourism Commission, seeking funding for a proposed project. Offering context to the request, Mayor Troy Combs said he had spoken with Frazier earlier and told her that her proposed project (mentoring and enrichment for area youth) might have a broader application than funding covered by tourism.
“Her program is about youth enrichment and mentoring, and might have applications for substance abuse prevention,” Combs explained to the council. “We obviously have a budget where we can expend resources for programs like this, so I invited her here to speak to the council.”
Frazier then gave the council greater detail.
“It would be an after-school program,” Frazier told the council. “We have a great need in Carter County to do something with our youth. We do not have a lot of childcare and we do not have a lot of options for our families.”
The result, Frazier told the council, was that Carter County families have to choose to either work or take care of their children.
“And that does not help us as a community,” Frazier said.
“The average population (living in) poverty in the state of Kentucky is 16 percent,” she told the council. “Carter County’s percentage is 26.”
Frazier told the council that children who participate in after school programs, such as the one she proposed, have a higher success rate. It also helps those children connect with the community where they live, she said.
“What I am asking for is a letter of support from the city so that we can begin the process of applying for grants and other funding,” Frazier told the council. “We would like to start a pilot program. And we would like it to run the hours from about 3 to 6 p.m.”
Frazier added that she has already spoken with several local teachers who said they would help tutor those students in the program who needed help.
“We also have people who can come and speak,” Frazier said. “We can have classes on things like how you budget and teaching kids life skills. A lot of kids know how to use Cash App, but they don’t know anything about banks and bank accounts.”
Council Members discussed the program with Frazier, encouraging her to streamline the proposal and included a budget, a scope of impact – including whether it was just in city limits or beyond, and then come back to discuss the proposal again at a future meeting.
In other business, FIVCO Director Lance Hanshaw addressed the council and presented them with a plaque in appreciation for their close work with the regional development agency.
“I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate the City of Grayson for the work that you do,” Hanshaw told the council. “I wanted to present you with this plaque to recognize your partnership and collaboration in advancing our region forward.”
The council also heard department reports from department heads. This included McClain Dyer reporting that he was in the process of compiling a list of all commercial properties available for sale in the city, and that the list would be completed soon. Roger Dunfee reported that emergency management was in the process of updating all of their procedures for winter weather emergencies. Dunfee said that emergency management had been communicating with other related agencies and was as prepared as possible.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
