Construction contract awarded for Aviation Walk

In a special called meeting on June 9, Hickory City Council approved a $20,815,037.15 construction contract with Neill Grading & Construction for the City’s first BUILD grant.

In 2018, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded the City of Hickory a $17.092 million BUILD grant for its “Hickory Reconnected through Transportation Infrastructure Investment” project, which includes the Aviation Walk and the City Walk extension at 9th Street NW and 11th Street NW.

The Aviation Walk will extend the Hickory Trail multimodal pathway across U.S. 321, past L.P. Frans Stadium, and up to the Hickory Regional Airport. The City Walk extension will create a complete downtown streetscape loop and connect the City Walk to the OLLE Art Walk and other segments of the Hickory Trail.

The City's financial match to move forward with the BUILD project is $7,000,000.

For more information about the Hickory Trail, please visit www.CraftingHickory.com.

American Rescue Plan Act Funding

Another item approved during the meeting was the acceptance of American Rescue Plan Act funding in the amount of $4,118,501 from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The American Rescue Plan Act became federal law in March 2021, providing funding to local governments nationwide. The City of Hickory has been allocated a total of $8,237,002 to be distributed in two tranches of $4,118,501.

Once the U.S. Department of the Treasury provides more specific guidance on how these funds are required to be used, this guidance, as well as state law, will be followed to determine appropriate uses for this funding, which must be obligated by December 31, 2024.

As required by the American Rescue Plan Act, the City’s Finance Department will create a new Fund 047 to track all revenues and expenses related to the recovery funds received by the City.

In addition, a new N.C. Capital Management Trust (NCCMT) account will be established to monitor the revenues and drawdowns. The new NCCMT account will allow all recovery fund transactions to be separate from the City’s other cash accounts.

Trivium Corporate Center Property Acquisition

Lastly, Hickory City Council approved budgeting City and County revenues for Trivium’s purchase of approximately 108 acres of land to the east of Startown Road.

The Trivium Board approved this property acquisition on Tuesday morning to expand the successful Trivium Corporate Center business park for further industrial development.

The total purchase price of $2,698,000 will be shared equally by the City of Hickory and Catawba County and will be paid for over three fiscal years.