How to Report an Issue
Reports are taken in person, during public comment, at regular Council meetings: third Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. (on the agendas we hold). See Your Government.
Under the October 20, 2026 agenda, public comment is limited to “POSTED AGENDA NUMBERED ITEMS ONLY.” An issue should therefore be on the agenda before it is reported. Agenda items are set by the City Administrator (Ord. No. 2023-05-31.2, §3).
Can’t wait for the agenda? The button above goes to an independent tip line. Reports sent there do not go to the City of Hawk Cove. The City offers no way to report anything online.
City offices were described at the June 17, 2025 meeting as open “Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday 9 to 5.”
Each item below says who reported it, where and when, and links to the meeting transcript where there is one. Transcripts are machine-generated; the video is the record. A status of “No action recorded” means none appears in the recordings and minutes we hold.
Water & Sewer
| Issue | Reported | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Lift station not working properly. The caller called back about the same issue. | A resident, by phone. Reported to the Council at the January 20, 2026 regular meeting (Part 2, 0:04:20). | Checked multiple times. No problem found. A septic contractor found no problem. A plumber was contacted to find out whether the problem is on the resident’s side or the City’s. |
| Lift station overflow, about 8 a.m. on March 13, 2025. A pump had burned up; a second pump failed that night. | City staff, at the March 18, 2025 regular meeting (0:01:09). | Reported to TCEQ. Treated. Cause given as wipes and feminine products. Residents asked not to flush them. Each pump: “anywhere between three and six thousand dollars.” |
| Lift station clogged on February 20, 2026. Cause: socks. | City staff, at the March 17, 2026 regular meeting (0:02:20). | Cleared. Cost: $2,514.93. Photographs of the impeller were passed around. A second clog that period was wipes and feminine products. |
| Wastewater plant blowers: three are required; one was stolen in a break-in some years ago. | City staff, at the March 18, 2025 regular meeting (0:04:31). Asked about again on August 19, 2025 (0:04:40). | Priced at $20,000, not including installation. Not yet purchased (August 19, 2025). |
| Residents report sewer problems to TCEQ instead of to the City. | The City Attorney, at the October 21, 2025 regular meeting (0:12:02). | Noted. The report said the operator could fix problems “if citizens brought these to the city’s attention,” and that TCEQ penalties are passed on in sewer bills. |
| Alleged: lift station pumps inoperable at one station and only one working pump at another; routine collection-system inspections not done; missing monitoring reports; wastewater permit expired March 1, 2021 while the plant kept operating. | TCEQ, Agreed Order, Docket No. 2021-0024-MWD-E, issued December 6, 2023 (record reviews of November 19, 2020 and April 30, 2021). | Penalty assessed: $39,525. Payable in 35 monthly payments of $878 after a down payment and a deferral. The City generally denied the allegations. |
| Water quality violations at the City’s wastewater plant. | TCEQ Commission Issued Orders, regulated entity RN104265848: seven orders, 2009 to 2023. | Seven orders. Penalties: $2,500; $3,575; $0; $35,790; $8,000; $44,850; $39,525. Total: $134,240. |
| Wastewater plant compliance status. | U.S. EPA, ECHO Detailed Facility Report, facility ID 110017693432 (data as of October 16, 2026). | “Significant/Category I Noncompliance.” Quarters in noncompliance: 12 of 12. EPA notes these are alleged violations subject to further evaluation. Latest State action listed: “Under Review” (September 25, 2026). |
| The City is “on a non-compliance list” with USDA. “All TCEQ issues must be cleared” before the sewer loan can be modified. | Notes of a March 10, 2026 USDA meeting, read under the Mayor’s USDA update at the March 17, 2026 regular meeting (0:06:19). | In progress. City staff reported joining a TCEQ compliance program, about three weeks in, expected to take “around 90-ish days.” |
Billing
| Issue | Reported | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Sewer bills expected to rise. Operating costs, repairs and TCEQ penalties are passed on to residents. | The City Attorney, at the October 21, 2025 regular meeting (0:12:02). | Rate study pending. “The next sewer rate study is expected to substantially increase sewer payments.” By ordinance the Council “shall increase the rate or rates of, but shall not decrease” utilities (Ord. No. 2023-05-31.6, §6). |
| Most of the sewer loan payments went to interest. From 2007 to January 1, 2025 the City paid USDA $899,493.13; “over $800,000 was interest.” | City staff and the Council, at the June 17, 2025 regular meeting (0:05:44). | Records requested from USDA in April 2025. Response received by August 19, 2025: “the exact same 23 pages” the City already had (0:10:05). |
| City loan payments were routed to another USDA office and took months to process while interest accrued. | City staff and the City Attorney, at the January 20, 2026 regular meeting (Part 3, 0:28:24). | Interest waived for that period, per the report. The City Attorney suggested certified mail. |
| The City is not eligible for grants while its loan is in default. | A resident, at public comment, July 15, 2025 regular meeting (0:02:07). | Received. Council eligibility was discussed later in the meeting (0:11:36). “This was not really a vote.” |
Streets
| Issue | Reported | Status |
|---|---|---|
| No timeframe for a road plan. Residents have paid thousands of dollars in vehicle repairs and asked for “something that is more sustainable than just gravel and sand.” The issue has gone on more than 10 years. | A resident, at public comment, February 18, 2025 regular meeting (0:02:12). | Received. No action recorded. The same evening’s public works report listed road repairs “all throughout the city.” By ordinance the City “owns and maintains the public roads” (Ord. No. 04-100). |
| No money to repair roads this fiscal year. Without grants, “the roads and other infrastructure needs cannot be addressed or improved.” | The City Attorney, at the October 21, 2025 regular meeting (0:10:26). | Reported. No funds identified for fiscal year 2025–2026. |
Police & Fire
| Issue | Reported | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Fire and first-response coverage. A letter from the president of the County Fire Association recommended the City keep the current county fire protection plan, which covers the City from the two closest stations at no cost to the City. | Read at public comment, January 20, 2026 regular meeting (Part 2, 0:01:10). A county fire official also attended to say 9-1-1 calls will get a response (0:00:23). | Letter read. Copies requested by the Council. Update, March 17, 2026: “When somebody calls 911, somebody’s coming” (0:05:43). |
| The County voted on January 5, 2026 to end its contract with an area fire department, with a 90-day transition. The City heard nothing from the County before or after the vote. | City staff, at the January 20, 2026 regular meeting (Part 2, 0:06:07). | No communication received, per the report. The City’s current agreement “has not been broken.” |
Police matters are on the Police Department page. No police issue was raised at public comment in the recordings we hold.
Records
| Issue | Reported | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Original City records from before the current staff have disappeared. Many were “destroyed by storage.” | City staff, at the January 20, 2026 regular meeting (Part 3, 0:24:49). | Noted. Comparing loan records “will take months,” because “it’s a three-day work week.” City records policy: Ord. No. 06-103, §2. |
| Request for a copy of the City Attorney’s written report to the Council. | Asked at the October 21, 2025 regular meeting (0:14:07). | Declined. “What is public is the recording.” “I will not be supplying a copy.” |
| Requests for City bank statements, made over four years, were denied. The Council has not received an audit. | A council member, at the September 22, 2026 special session (0:30:37). | Discussed. The Mayor said a bank statement alone does not give the full picture. The member was later ruled out of order (0:39:45). |
| No City financial reports yet for 2026. | A council member, at the March 17, 2026 regular meeting (0:18:54). | Not on the agenda. Referred to a future agenda. |
| Profit and loss reports for October through December, for the Council and the public. | A council member, at the February 18, 2025 regular meeting (0:07:45). | Referred to the next agenda. A profit and loss report for fiscal year 2023–2024 was handed out April 15, 2025 (0:18:37). |
Meetings
| Issue | Reported | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Special session not held. | Stated on the recording of the September 19, 2025 special session (0:00:11). | Not called to order. No quorum. |
| Public comment rules changed on the agenda. The October 20, 2026 agenda limits comment to “POSTED AGENDA NUMBERED ITEMS ONLY” and says speakers may be “ruled out of order.” An earlier 2026 agenda allowed comment on “any item listed on this agenda.” | The City’s own agendas. See Agendas & Minutes. | Wording changed. No vote adopting it appears in the agendas, minutes and recordings we hold. |
| The Council’s “adopted Rules of Order” were cited as governing meetings. | The Mayor’s address, September 22, 2026 special session (0:04:08). | Copy not located in the records we hold. |
| The notice of the filing deadline for a place on the May 2025 ballot was posted around January 14 instead of December 16. | City staff, at the February 18, 2025 regular meeting (0:40:47). | Secretary of State called. Told there would be no problem “only if somebody come up and said hey I didn’t know that was there.” Election ordered. |
| A letter about fire coverage was brought to the meeting but had not come through the City Secretary. | Raised at the January 20, 2026 regular meeting (Part 3, 0:00:00). | Not entered into the record. To wait until it “actually comes through roughly the proper channels.” |
| A council member described the meeting as “a hostile environment” and asked to end it. | A council member, at the September 22, 2026 special session (0:49:50). | Adjourned, 7:21 p.m. The budget motion had died for lack of a second (0:40:51). |
Sources: the meeting recordings and transcripts on Meeting Videos; the City’s agendas and ordinances; TCEQ Commission Issued Orders for regulated entity RN104265848; U.S. EPA ECHO. Speaker names are not given for residents.