Hawk Cove, Texas, December 11, 2017. Ordinance 100-11, our permit and fee schedule, lists a 4th Revision dated Monday, December 11, 2017, its third revision of the year. The title page lists the whole family: “(Revised 09/04/2012) (2nd Revision 07/10/2017) (3rd Revision 10/09/2017) (4th Revision 12/11/2017)” (p. 1). Exactly one year later, the 5th Revision’s title page added one more line: “(5th Revision 12/11/2018)” (p. 1).
We remember the 4th Revision as we hold it: a title page and two fee pages. Its last page, where a passage date and signatures would go, is not in our copy, and the City’s records posted here include no agenda, minutes or recording of any meeting on December 11, 2017. The fee pages carry no revision number of their own, so below we compare the wording, not the labels.
What it was like
- A yard sale cost “$20.00,” four a year at most.
- A “Door to Door or Street Vendor permit (90 day permit)” cost $35.00.
- An “Inflatable Above Ground Pool” needed a $75.00 permit. The $75.00 is circled in pen on the page.
- Mobile homes moving in: “New to 3 years only.” New houses: “1200 sf (minimum).”
- Unpaid fees “may be added to sewer account or a lien placed on propert[y].”
- And its most open-minded line: “For any permit or fee issues not addressed by this ordinance, the Chief Building Official has authority to establish regulations or fees on as-needed basis, until finalized by City Council Action.”
All from the fee pages in our 4th Revision copy (p. 2, p. 3). The right edge of p. 3 is cut off in our copy, hence the bracket.
What the 5th Revision kept, and what it let go
| Line | 4th Revision copy (12/11/2017) | 5th Revision (12/11/2018) |
|---|---|---|
| Yard sale | $20.00 | $5.00 |
| Special use | “Special Use / Event Permits” $150.00 min. | “Special Use Permits” $100.00 min. |
| Unpaid fees | “may be added to sewer account or a lien placed on propert[y]” | “may result in a Lien placed on property and Citation issued.” (p. 3) |
| Fees nobody listed | The Chief Building Official sets them “until finalized by City Council Action” | Not at the end of the fee schedule, where the 4th has it; Section 2 follows the unpaid-fees line (p. 3) |
The 5th Revision’s fee schedule does not end with the part about City Council Action; its last paragraph runs straight into Section 2 (p. 3). Yard sales, meanwhile, dropped from $20 to $5, and special use permits from $150 to $100.
How the 5th Revision arrived
The 5th Revision says “PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HAWK COVE, TEXAS, ON THIS 12th DAY OF December, 2018,” with the Mayor and City Secretary lines blank (p. 5). A second printing of the last page leaves the date blank (p. 4). The City’s posted agenda for December 11, 2018 has no item on Ordinance 100-11; its Old Business is the wastewater plant, amended Ordinance 05-100 on setback requirements and square footage, and Ordinance 06-110-1 on pets. The City’s records posted here include no minutes of that meeting and no record of any Council meeting on December 12. The first agenda in these records to list the ordinance is February 12, 2019, under Old Business, on a list that also carries the pets and setbacks items from the December 11 agenda: “Discuss/Consider/Act on modification and amendments to Ordinance 100-11 Regarding Fees.” Whether the Council voted on the 5th Revision in December, the City’s papers posted here do not say. The full timeline is in Fee Ordinance Revised in December, Put on the Agenda in February.
The Municipal Judge had his own account. In his resignation letter of March 26, 2019, Anthony C. Cuciniello wrote: “IN DECEMBER I NOTIFIED THE SITTING MAYOR , BRIAN PROCK THAT ORDINANCE 100-11 WAS CHANGED WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE COUNCIL AND IT WAS INSTRUCTED BY THE CHIEF OF POLICE VIA THE CODE ENHANCEMENT OFFICER TO MAKE THE CHANGE. THE PURPOSE OF THE ILLEAGAL [sic] CHANGE WAS TO EFFECT THE OUTCOME OF AN UP COMING COURT CASE. MAYOR PROCK IGNORED MY FINDINGS. THE CHANGE WAS NEVER BROUGHT AND PLACED ON THE AGENDA UP FOR REVIEW UNTIL FEBUARY [sic].”
Those are the judge’s words, not a finding by any court or agency. His letter does not name the Chief of Police, the code enhancement officer or the court case, and it does not say which lines were changed. The rest of the letter is in Municipal Judge Resigns, Leaves His Reasons in Writing.
Highlights
- December 11, 2017: the 4th Revision, the third of the year.
- Under it, one official could set any fee the ordinance forgot, “until finalized by City Council Action.”
- December 11, 2018: the 5th Revision. Its fee schedule no longer ends with that line, and unpaid fees can bring a lien on property and a “Citation issued.”
- Yard sales fell from $20 to $5. Special use permits fell from $150 to $100.
- February 12, 2019: Ordinance 100-11 “Regarding Fees” appears on an agenda, as Old Business.