Comedian Jeff Foxworthy, when speaking about what is in a Louisiana boiling pot, asked if the contents swim or fly and was told, “Maybe it do and maybe it don’t, just put some more hot sauce on it and keep eating city boy,”

After the meeting of the Hawkins City Council last Monday evening one might expect the same kind of answer if asking whether an action taken by the group was kosher or not.

Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn’t, just put it in the books and move on along.

That action was giving Verizon permission to extend Paradise Lane to the property line of the Kirkpatrick farm. The extension of a street at no cost to the city is, on the surface, a good deal for the city. However, it could turn out to be a good deal for City Councilman Wayne Kirkpatrick also, and he should have taken no part in approving that action per Ed Sterling, member services director of the Texas Press Association.

“If a council member receives any benefit from an action, it would be a conflict of interest for he or she to vote to approve such action,” Sterling said.

Councilman Kirkpatrick owns the property and the reason Verizon wants to extend the road is to have access to his property to construct a cell phone tower on said property.

While all intentions appear to be good, if the tower is constructed on Kirkpatrick’s property he will benefit in the form of lease payments for the land utilized if the tower remains on the property. Extending the street will be a good deal for the city, but it may be an even better deal for councilman Kirkpatrick.

That was not the only unusual action in the regular monthly session of the Hawking City Council as Fire Chief Dan Garner and fire department Secretary Jill Jackson apparently resigned during an executive session held during the middle of the two-hour long meeting. The council went into executive session for discussions of personnel operations of the police department and fire department personnel.

When the council returned to open session Mayor Howard Coquat announced that Garner and Jackson had resigned their positions with the Hawkins Volunteer Fire Department because, “They felt like they couldn’t successfully carry out their duties under the current situation.” Coquat then appointed Steve Holmes as acting fire chief. Several fire department members were called into the executive session, but neither of the two who resigned was in the council chambers when the open session resumed and the resignations were announced.

Coquat told Police Chief Ron Voda, “We’ll talk to you later about what we discussed.”

The Hawkins Fire Department has been in turmoil for some time now. Garner was tabbed by the council to be the fire chief on July 8, the same date the council began an investigation into the fire department that led to the Texas Rangers investigation of the activities of the fire department. The Rangers have not announced the results of their investigation yet.

Apparently, there are still four HVFD firefighters suspended, and they will remain in that state until the investigation into the department is complete. To date no specific items for the investigation have been revealed but an audit report of HVFD funds by the city auditor in late June or early July, “warranted an outside investigation,” per Mayor Coquat. It was the mayor who worked with the Police Department to get the Texas Rangers involved in the investigation.

Neither Garner or Jackson could be reached for comment on their resignations and a call to Holmes by the Monitor had not been returned as of deadline time.

In other actions Monday night, the Hawkins Council approved an interlocal agreement with Wood County for ad valorem tax collections and gave the okay for a contract with Ricoh USA through the Department of Information Resources for a 28-month lease on a new copier for city hall at a rate of $129.68 per month.

A second and final reading was approved for Resolution No. 160929 giving the Hawkins Development Corporation approval to spend funds in excess of $10,000 for improvement of the Park 2 playground area.

Hawkins also obtained a new piece of real estate when the council agreed to the purchase of block 7k, lot 1 at a cost of $1,500. This property is located behind the water tower and will be utilized for storage and possible future development.

Action was stabled on appointments to the Texas Emergency Services Retirement System Local Board, and no action was taken on the adoption and replacement of the City of Hawkins Drug-Free Workplace policy. All members of the council were present except Clara Kay.