City Council unanimously tables Knox Box(c) ordinance

Feedback to the Mayor and City Council from the Chamber and other business owners outlining cost prohibitions and key security concerns led to the Council voting unanimously to table the proposed Knox^(c) Box  ordinance. It will not get a second reading. Research by the Chamber determined that the boxes were not included in ordinances in other nearby cities as was reported in council discussion. Installation would not lower insurance rates for business owners as the feature is not widely enough used to warrant adoption for rate changes by insurance companies.

At the June 14, 2022 meeting of the Grayson City Council, the Council heard the first reading of an ordinance that would require owners of commercial buildings to purchase Knox Boxes, small, safe-like boxes that mount on the exterior of the building and contain keys to the building and sometimes floor plans. The boxes are accessed by keys held by the Grayson Volunteer Fire Department in the event of an alarm or emergency that would require emergency personnel to enter the building. The boxes are keyed identically and GVFD would have 4 keys, 3 with different GVFD officers and 1 that is housed in a fire vehicle to be used to access the boxes, obtain keys and then enter commercial buildings.