The Avard Regional Rail Park Authority meeting Tuesday evening was comprised of Stan Bixler, Todd Holder and their newest member, Allan Poe. Woods County Clerk Shelley Reed and Woods County Economic Development Director Sonja Williams were also present.
The group determined an executive session wasn’t necessary, and opted to move on to the financial report. Holder asked the other two members if they had a chance to look over the financial report, and went on to explain to Poe how it all worked.
“Since inception, this has been a very difficult thing to wrap our arms around,” Holder said, “because we have had several different financing options, several different places. Most of the payments we make are quarterly, so in order to have cash flow that we really understood, we accrue those payments on a monthly basis.”
Holder explained in more detail about the equity, cash flow and other elements of the balance sheet, and the financial report was approved. He said they are substantially reducing long-term debt while not incurring new, and believes the park is definitely going in the right direction. Good relationships have been established and a lot of interest has been shown, he said, especially when oil prices increase.
Williams gave her WCEDC report next, informing the authority that the BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) Transportation Grant was not awarded to the rail park. (The grant is a federal program to support road, rail, transit and port infrastructure projects across the country.)
Though the park wasn’t a recipient of that particular grant, they aren’t dead in the water, Williams said.
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