Hickory City Council on Tuesday will consider about $4.8 million in construction contracts, including new sewer service for land near the city airport that the city has flagged for economic development, and the first phase of Sandy Pines Park.
Council meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, at City Hall, 76 North Center Street. Both contracts are on the consent agenda, which passes in a single vote unless a council member pulls an item for discussion.
Sewer for the airport area
The larger contract is a $3,591,146 tentative award to State Utility Contractors Inc. for the NW Sewer Extension Project. According to Public Utilities Director Will Hamblin’s memo, the land around the airport has been identified for potential economic development, and serving it will take a new gravity sewer line and a new pump station.
Six companies bid. State Utility Contractors came in lowest, about $389,000 under the next bidder, T.P. Howard’s Plumbing. The high bid was $4,170,595. The award still depends on the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality signing off.
Sandy Pines Park contract
Council is also asked to award a $1,226,702 contract to Eagle-Wood Inc., the lowest of four valid bidders, for Sandy Pines Park Phase One. Plans call for a parking lot, sidewalks and trails, an accessible restroom, play structures, cornhole courts and site work. A separate budget revision on the same agenda moves $213,789 from the city’s general fund balance to cover construction there.
River education center zoning
In the night’s only public hearing, the city is asking to rezone 24.39 acres it owns at 964 and 970 Airport Rhodhiss Road, across the line in Burke County, from Burke County residential zoning to a Hickory planned development district. The site is the future home of the Catawba River Environmental Education Center, known as CREEC, which the city plans to open to the public for education and recreation.
Council annexed the property on Sept. 15 and that night also approved applying for up to $2 million in National Park Service money for the project, split between a federal grant and a city match. Catawba First covered that meeting here. The Hickory Regional Planning Commission heard the rezoning Sept. 23. No one spoke, and the commission recommended approval unanimously.
Also on the agenda
- Budget revision: $158,483 in insurance money for repairs at L.P. Frans Stadium, $27,645 to replace a damaged police vehicle, $40,000 in prior donations to replace Hickory Police gym equipment, and $39,378 in youth sports sponsorship money for Parks and Recreation.
- Aviation Museum trail: A $34,885 contract amendment with Thomas, Gordon and Shook for construction-phase engineering on the Aviation Museum Connector multi-use trail, mostly federally funded and pending NCDOT approval.
- Speedway fireworks: Permits for PyroStar Entertainment shows at Hickory Motor Speedway on Oct. 17 and Oct. 24, subject to drought conditions and the fire marshal’s final OK.
- Library donations: A new policy letting Hickory Public Library accept donated equipment.
- Long-range planning: Planning Director Brian Frazier will introduce consultant Kimley-Horn, which is working on the Hickory by Choice 2050 plan and a rewrite of the city’s land development code.
- Water planning: A resolution supporting the Catawba-Wateree River Basin’s integrated water resources plan.
- Closed session: Council lists a closed session to discuss potential economic development.
Council also has a long list of open seats on city boards, including the Community Relations Council, Library Advisory Board, Recycling Advisory Board and Youth Council.
Source note
As of publication. This story is based on the City of Hickory’s Oct. 6, 2026, City Council agenda packet, posted on the city’s agendas and minutes page.
