Tangier Town Minutes — Lots of items

Mayor Eskridge is working on inviting President Trump to Tangier — see below

Posted below are the Tangier Town Council minutes from May 23 that were approved at the Town Council meeting held June 19, 2025. Thanks goes to Barb Baechtel for recording/preparing these minutes.

Tangier Town Council Minutes

Meeting Location: Tangier Combined School Auditorium

Council Members Present:
• Beth Thomas, Vice Mayor
• Tommy Eskridge
• Anna Parks
• Tracy Pruitt
• Normand St. Pierre
• Mayor James Ooker Eskridge

Council Members Absent:
• Kelly Wheatley

Approximately Forty-five adult members of the community were in attendance.

Call To Order:
Vice Mayor Beth Thomas called the meeting to order at 6:03 PM and stated the meeting would be recorded.
She thanked the Accomack County School Board and Dr. Rosati for the use of the Auditorium, and Staff and students of TCS high school for setting up the auditorium for the meeting.

Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance
The opening invocation was given by Jared Parks and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Tracy Pruitt.

Opening Statement:
Mayor James Eskridge welcomed everyone. He thanked everyone for participating in the meeting. He asked that anyone that wanted to speak during the public speaking portion of the meeting sign up and limit their comments to 3 minutes. He restated the Council’s dedication to transparency and following the rules.

Motion: To adopt the agenda of May 23rd, 2025, was made by Tommy Eskridge and seconded by Anna Parks.
Unanimous Aye. Motion Passed

Motion: To adopt the minutes for the Special Session meeting on May 16th was made by Anna Parks and
seconded by Tommy Eskridge. Unanimous Aye. Motion Passed

Motion: To approve the meeting minutes of April 15th, 2025 was made by Tommy Eskridge and Seconded by Anna Parks. Unanimous Aye. Motion Passed

Discussion on Appointment of Normand St. Pierre to Fill Vacant Council Seat

Beth Thomas gave thanks and appreciation to former Town Council member Sharon Haynie, who joined the Council as an appointee in February of 2024 and served until April of 2025. She noted Sharon’s diligence in establishing fiscal responsibility for the Town.

Normand St. Pierre spoke, noting his non-native status, and shared some stories of his assimilation into the Island’s culture. He talked about his love for Tangier and for his willingness to help the Town get back on track financially, while stressing that he would only commit to serving out the remainder of Sharon Haynie’s term. He underscored that he did not want to make his involvement on the Council into a full-time career.

Motion: To appoint Normand St. Pierre to the Vacant seat on the Town Council, was made by Beth Thomas and seconded by Tommy Eskridge. Unanimous Aye. Motion Passed

Discussion and Vote to Change Signature Card on PNC Checking Accounts
Beth Thomas explained that, with the change in Council, the signature cards at the PNC Bank would have to be updated to remove Sharon Haynie, and that this change would have to be noted in the minutes and voted on, with all signatories present. All other signers would remain unchanged on the signature cards.

Motion: To Update the PNC Signature Cards to Remove Sharon Haynie to Reflect the Current Council, was made by Tommy Eskridge and seconded by Tracy Pruitt. Unanimous Aye. Motion Passed

Financial Reports:
General Fund:
Tracy Pruitt discussed the state of the Town’s General Fund. She said that the General Fund balance as of April 15th, 2025 was $14,544.70. As of May 23rd, 2025, the General Fund balance was $10,789.12

Wastewater Treatment Plant (WTP):
Beth Thomas began by stating that the WTP fund balance, as of April 15th, 2025, was $2,579.63 and as of May 23rd, 2025 was $3,505.56. She underlined that the WTP was, by far, the largest drain on Town finances. She went on to outline the three active WTP loans. There are two UDSA loans – one that is due monthly on the 5th of the month, which is a $1,324 payment. The second is due monthly on the 19th of the month, which is a $2,170 payment. The third loan is through the Port Authority, and the payment of $8,315 is due twice yearly.

Tangier Gas:
Tommy Eskridge stated that the Tangier Gas Fund balance was $27,781.45, as of May 23rd, 2025, but added a caveat that an approximately $18,000 fuel order was looming. He stressed that all fuel purchased so far is completely paid for and that Tangier Gas’s bill with Steven Thomas is up to date. He said that they have repaid $20,000 toward the approximately $168,000 outstanding invoice from Pep Up that was on the books from before he took over the Gas Dock. He expects to pay an additional $10,000 toward that bill in the next couple of weeks.

He acknowledged, with deep thanks and appreciation, the Board of Swain Memorial Methodist Church, who voted to loan the Town $50,000 to cover the outstanding $43,000 balance from Brockenbrough, that was holding up the DEQ grant money. This loan was offered three weeks ago, with generous and simple terms of repayment when the Town was able to repay. As of May 1st, 2025, Brockenbrough had been paid, and as of May 23rd, the Town had already been able to repay 20% of the Church’s generous and timely loan. This development allows the DEQ Grant money to come off suspension and the oil dock project to resume.

Tommy went on to say that the vehicle inspections being carried out at the dock had brought in well over $4,000, and said those funds were a real help to the Town. He explained that, after safety concerns about the old fuel dock, the Dock Project Advisor, Leo Radkowski, had instructed him to tear the dock out for safety reasons. He followed Mr. Radkowski’s guidance and removed the dock. He had copies of a letter that Mr. Radkowski had sent to the Town, outlining his recommendations for the removal of the old dock.

He said that the removal of the old dock would not affect the operation of the Food Bank. He was excited to announce that the food would be delivered to the same place, and offloaded into the dock building, for distribution in a climate-controlled building, and that there were many volunteers stepping up to help. He said that Suzanne Pruitt would be heading up and coordinating the Food Bank and that it would be better than ever.

Tommy said that the Town was expecting a new load of sand and dirt, that would be used to level the land where the Double Six stood. He outlined a new initiative to remove scrap metal from the Island. He said he was working with a contractor on the shore, who was working with a scrap metal outfit, and they were working on a plan to gather all the old cars, trucks, golf carts, mules, 4 x 4’s, motorcycles, etc… from anywhere they are in the Town, and get them
hauled off. There will be a fee for removal of vehicles off of private property. Cars and Trucks would be $100, Golf carts, Mules & four-wheelers would be $50, and scooters and motorcycles would be $25.

He said it would be a while before all the details were worked out, but that an announcement would go out, for
people to get their old vehicles on the list for pickup. He said that the Town would work with people who couldn’t afford the dumping fee and that he’d rather people speak up and get their vehicles on the list, rather than stay quiet because they couldn’t afford it.

He said that the Town was working on identifying derelict properties that were either run-down or not being properly cared for. There are letters being sent out to those identified property owners to either fix their property up, tear it down or face a fine.

Public Comments:
Nina Pruitt had two issues to discuss. Her top issue was a vicious dog that had bitten 4 people. She has called Animal Control and they had not yet taken action to remove the dog from the community. She mentioned that one of their excuses was that tide was up, and also that one of the ferry Captains had declined to take the dog onboard, to bring the dog to the shore. She said that Animal Control had told her that someone was coming to pick up the dog on May 24th.

Her second issue was Town ordinances. She had been studying the ordinances and found a few things that interested her. For instance, the dog ordinance was passed on February 5th, 1987. A helmet ordinance for electric scooters was passed May 10th, 2006. The $30.00 business license ordinance was passed on April 14th, 2008. She wanted to know if it was still $30? A meal tax of 4% was passed on May 23rd, 1991. Occupancy tax of 2% was passed on November 1st, 2010. She wanted to know if these two taxes were being enforced and collected? She noted that she did not find any ordinance that addressed firing firearms in the town, or selling alcohol.

She related that she had coincidentally run into the secretary of the Town’s old attorney, when she visited the County Clerk’s office to look at the Town’s Ordinances. The woman related to her the fact that the attorney had died, and that he had records that needed to be relocated. She passed on the contact information for the lady, so that the Council could follow up with her to retain what might be important Town records.

She said that the Town Ordinances were available for viewing at the County Clerk’s office and that people could go in any day the office was open, and stay all day, if they wanted. She thanked the Council for their time and effort in making the Town better.

Tommy Eskridge, to answer some of Nina’s questions, said that the Captain that refused to take the vicious dog was Mark Crockett, but that the reasons for him not taking the dog were very reasonable. The owners had tried to muzzle the dog, and the dog rejected being muzzled. Captain Crockett was concerned for the safety of his passengers. He said that, by law, the dog would be held by Animal Control for 10 days, in quarantine, because he was not vaccinated – but what that means is that the dog may be returned to the Island, after the 10-day quarantine was over. He also assured her that licensing and fees had gone up.

Margaretta Pruitt shared that she was very concerned that her cart, which is a lifeline, in many ways, would be irreparably damaged by an open manhole that is adjacent to their property, on Hilda Crockett Lane. She said she had spoken to Denny Crockett who promised to make something to cover it up and make it safer, but that it was very dangerous and needed to be fixed right away. Tommy Eskridge assured her that it would be handled swiftly, even if he had to use plywood, as a temporary fix, until Denny could make a proper cover.

Grants Report
Anna Parks stated that the Town Attorney, Andre’ Wiggins, of Turner & Leeds has all of the Town ordinances in a binder in his office. She acknowledged the great signs that Trevor Pruitt had hand painted, to direct visitors to the beach. She thanked Trevor for taking the initiative on his own and said she felt that it added character to the Island.

She said that she has been in a couple of meetings with Kellen Singleton, of the Nassawadox Dredge Project,
also attended by Mayor Eskridge, Beth Thomas and Tommy Eskridge, along with representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers, VIMS, VMRC, along with some other key players. Kellen has shared that the project
is fully funded. She expects that there will be representatives of that cooperative project and surveyors on the Island in June, to visit the projected dredge placement sites, and to do wetland assessments, in preparation for the project.

A large meeting was held with the Mayor and members of the Council and many key stakeholders, dealing with issues central to Chesapeake Bay. During that meeting, it was revealed by the Army Corps of Engineers that the Tangier Navigational Project had been awarded 10.3 million dollars to complete a large-scale dredging project in our harbor, which would necessitate the ACOE finding beneficial uses for the dredge material, such as rebuilding the Uppards. She said that work on this project would begin pretty quickly, within the next year, and would include geo-tubes in the wash through area of the Uppards, to cut down on the wave-action damage.
Anna continued by saying that the Commonwealth of Virginia had established a new Office of Coastal Resilience this month and would be headed by one of our contacts with the ACOE.

The office falls under the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Department of Conservation and Recreation. They have said that there are grant monies available for community flood preparedness that Tangier can apply for, and that if Tangier was ever awarded a grant that required matching funds, this new Office would be able to loan the Town the matching funds, with little to no interest. They also invited Tangier to apply to have a dedicated Flood Resilience Coordinator, with their salary being paid for, for three years. It was also mentioned that Tangier could be eligible for the Office to pay for the Town to have a complete financial study done, which would help facilitate other projects and grants as well. At the same meeting, Tim Kaine’s aide was in attendance and stated that his office could be of help to Tangier.

The 100 million dollar Oyster Recovery Project being split between Tangier and Saxis is moving along, and has
been awarded an additional 20 million dollars to plant harvest and non-harvest oyster reefs, in designated areas. The non-harvest reefs will be placed strategically, so that they feed the harvest reefs and keep them healthy. They expect the first of several contracts for this project to begin work in 2027. The project is expected to build thousands of acres of oyster reefs in Tangier Sound.

CBF has announced the NPR Morning Edition show will be coming to the Island in June to film a segment on both Tangier and Smith Island that is hoped to reach 13 million viewers. Also, the CBF media relations folks are working with Mayor Eskridge to write an op-ed, for publication in the Washington Post and other major newspapers, aiming to invite President Trump to visit the Island.

Anna mentioned that the documentary “Been Here, Stay Here” will be playing in Onancock during the third week of June, for anyone who hasn’t seen it.

Both Mayor Eskridge and Anna indicated that they were very encouraged by all the people and organizations
that have been showing an interest in helping Tangier and that they felt like good things were around the corner.
She added that the Town had sent a letter asking the U.S. Treasury to reconsider the demand for repayment of unaccounted-for covid relief funds. She said that the repayment was supposed to be due in May, but that they had heard nothing back from the Treasury.

The town has applied to the Auditor of Public Accounts for Distressed Locality funding. They did get an email
back on that, and Anna and Beth are set to have a meeting concerning that application in early to mid-June. If
that meeting goes well, it will open the door for the Governor to designate Tangier as a distressed locality, in
turn giving Tangier up to $750,000 in funding, to help get the Town back on track.

She said that she had forms from ANEC for everyone to fill out, as part of the ETIPP energy grant, giving
ETIPP access to everyone’s energy usage data, for their studies. The information released would not include
any personal information – only energy usage data. She encouraged everyone to fill a form out.

Motion: To apply to the Office of Coastal Resilience for Tangier to receive a Financial Impact Study and a Dedicated Costal Resilience Coordinator, was made by Beth Thomas and seconded by Anna Parks. Unanimous
Aye. Motion Passed

Beth Thomas offered copies of Leo’s letter about the old gas dock, and copies of Normand St. Pierre’s resume,
for anyone who wanted them.

Mayor Eskridge wanted to ease anyone’s concerns about the oyster recovery project. He said that the difficulties that Maryland had been dealing with, for a similar project would not be a problem with the oyster beds that are currently in use for Tangier Watermen. He said that current oyster beds would not be affected and would not suddenly be designated as oyster sanctuaries.

The next public meeting will be held on Thursday, June 19th. Since there was no further business; the meeting
was adjourned by Beth Thomas at 6:56 p.m.