Van Stack, a CPA with Stack and Blair, presented the financial statement for fiscal year 2020-2021 during the work session of the Russellville City Council Aug. 1.

In a nutshell: “You’re doing well,” explained Stack. “Your financial statements are done, and they look good.”

He said the city has “well-run enterprise funds” and reported $89 million in assets and $2.5 million in deferred outflow, as well as $7.6 million in capital assets, net of related debt.
“You’ve got capital assets of $17 million, but you owe $10 million, so that’s how you get the $7.6 million,” added Stack, who also spoke more in depth about a number of points in the statement.

The report included four entities in addition to the general fund: the Board of Education, water board, gas board and electric board.

Stack said the analysis given constitutes what’s called an “unqualified opinion,” which means that financial statements are fairly and appropriately presented.

The city council accepted the statement, which was for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2021.

In other business, the council:

• Approved a contract for Shenandoah to perform at Jam on Sloss Lake next year.
• Accepted a letter of resignation from patrol officer Colton Stone in the Russellville Police Department and declared a vacancy for the position, extending the application deadline to Aug. 26.

Mayor David Grissom read an email from Louise Jennings, who he explained is employed by both Franklin Center and Russellville Marketplace, concerning recruiting for retail development in Russellville.

The email reported that Russellville Marketplace was sold in March of this year and the owner decided to move forward with Harbor Freight, which has plans to open later this year.

As regards Franklin Center, work is currently being done with T-Mobile.

The email read, in part:

“We also continue work with several national box and outparcel users for Franklin Center. TJ Maxx initially turned down Franklin Center, but we continued to pursue. We met with their representative at the ICSC convention in May. TJ Maxx has agreed to revisit the Franklin Center and Russellville again next year.”

The email also mentioned work being done to bring Family Dollar back to the Franklin Shopping Center.

“Our team continues to work to bring more business to Russellville, and we will keep you posted.”

Grissom concluded reading the email, adding, “So, good news is coming forward, it looks like, retail-wise.”

The next regular council meeting will be Aug. 15 with the work session beginning at 6 p.m. and the meeting following directly after. Meetings are held in Russellville City Hall.