City council recognizes local student

Grayson City Council began their regular meeting last week by recognizing the city’s new intern, Abigail Sexton.
“Abigail Sexton is a senior at East Carter High School,” Mayor Troy Combs said as he introduced her to the council. “She is the new intern for the Administration Department for the City of Grayson. Abigail is also a 2026 Governor’s Scholar and spent the summer at Center College. She plans to attend Morehead State University and major in accounting.”
Aundra Shearer, the Marketing Internship Education Coordinator for East Carter High School, was Sexton’s supervisor and spoke to the council about the program.
“We have our internship program at East Carter High School, and every year students who are juniors or seniors and are industry certified can join the program,” Shearer said.
Other requirements are that the students must be good students and in good standing academically.
“Abigail is industry certified,” Shearer told the council. “She just passed her industry certification which means she is certified in business essentials. She can get a job anywhere in the United States at minimum wage or more because she is industry certified. And so, because she is certified, she is a good student, and in good standing, she can do the internship program and work while she is in high school.”
“We are very proud of her,” Shearer added. “And I know they will be happy to have her here. She is a wonderful young lady.”
The mayor said they were happy with Sexton’s work too.
“I’ll just say that Miss Sexton has really came in here and went headlong into filing and other administrative functions,” Combs told the council and the gallery. “She is doing a wonderful job, and we are very fortunate to have her.”
In other business, the mayor called the council’s attention to a petition that had been submitted by city residents for two speed bumps to be installed on Jim Phillips Boulevard (CS 1083) between Second and Third streets.
“This request came from a citizen whose grandchildren play in their back yard,” Combs informed the council. “They are concerned about the high rates of speed.”
Several council members agreed that motorists sometimes travel too fast along the mentioned road.
“It appears that at least 51 percent of the residents on that road have signed the petition,” Combs said.
Council then voted to approve the petition.
Next, council discussed setting the tax rate in the city.
“All we have to do is go with the compensating rate,” Combs told the council. “Our rate from last year was .1770. The compensating rate will be .1650. So, the rate will be lower, but we will bring in about $2,000 more in revenue because the evaluations have gone up on property.”
“We are legally obligated to go with compensating rate,” Combs told the council, unless they wished to hold a hearing and vote to approve a higher rate.
“If we were to keep it at the higher rate, we would have to hold a public hearing,” he explained.
The council voted to go with the compensating rate for taxes.
The council also discussed an ordinance banning Flock cameras in the city. The ordinance would set definitive limits on the use of license plate readers and mass trackers (which Flock, an independent company, produces) of both the fixed and mobile varieties. The ordinance would ban fixed cameras such as the ones at traffic lights or mounted to buildings and utility poles throughout the city.
The new ordinance also sets limits on mobile readers/cameras, such as those mounted in law enforcement vehicles, stating they can only be in use when law enforcement officers are in the vehicle and have physical access to the camera. The ordinance further states that data collected by these mobile devices could only be used to compare to a “hot list” such as looking at license plates associated with missing persons, stolen vehicles, and felonies. In addition, the ordinance sets a time limit on the storage of the data, stipulating that it can only be held for 48 hours.
Mayor Combs recommended that the council conduct the first reading of the ordinance, then conduct more focused research before the ordinance moves toward a second reading.

Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com