The minutes below have been voted APPROVED, by the Tangier Town Council, at the meeting on November 4th, 2025.
Meeting Date: September 17th, 2025
Meeting Location: Tangier Town Office
Council Members Present:
- Beth Thomas, Vice Mayor
- Tommy Eskridge
- Anna Parks
- Tracy Pruit
- Kelly Wheatley
- Mayor James Ooker Eskridge
Council Members Absent
- Normand St. Pierre
Approximately 15 adult members of the community were in attendance.
Call To Order:
Vice Mayor Beth Thomas called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm and thanked everyone for coming and supporting the Town. She stated the meeting would be recorded.
Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance
The opening invocation was given by Jared Parks, and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Beth Thomas.
Opening Statement:
Mayor James Eskridge welcomed everyone. He thanked everyone for participating in the meeting. He encouraged people to keep coming out to support these monthly meetings. He stressed that there was a lot to cover.
Motion: To adopt the agenda of September 17th, 2025, was made by Beth Thomas and seconded by Anna Parks. Unanimous Aye. Motion Carried
Motion: To approve the budget meeting minutes of August 8th, 2025, was made by Anna Parks and Seconded by Kelly Wheatley. Unanimous Aye. Motion Carried
Motion: To approve the public meeting minutes of August 22nd, 2025, was made by Tommy Eskridge and Seconded by Tracy Pruitt. Unanimous Aye. Motion Carried
Beth Thomas informed the attendees that Council Member Norm St. Pierre’ could not be at the meeting, but that he was working on revising the job descriptions for town employees, so that they will know exactly what is expected of them. He has informed her that the Council will have to do a budget update, which will allow them to amend the current budget, as needed, approximately every three months, during the fiscal year. This will be covered in the October meeting.
Beth Thomas and Tommy Eskridge outlined a plan to contract out the grass cutting for the town to various grass cutters in the community – to cover for those duties left behind, when Trevor Pruitt was promoted to work at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, when Chris Haynie left. They feel that this plan will save the Town money, over hiring someone as a Town employee to cut the grass and other related jobs. Anna Parks added that relegating those duties to contractors will also relieve the Town of the responsibility of paying Federal tax and workers’ compensation for an employee.
An unidentified attendee asked how many people the Town would have at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Tommy Eskridge said that Pauley McCready had offered his help two days a week to run the tractor to push the trash back and to service the tractor if there was an issue. Anna and Beth added that Trevor was doing a great job at the Plant and had given them and representatives from the State of Virginia a tour that impressed everyone. She said that she has no doubt that, with some assistance, Trevor could pass all of the tests to get fully licensed for the Plant – a sentiment shared by Dave Redinger, who is currently servicing our Plant, under his license. Rob Baechtel shared that he was aware of a state program that would fund tutors to help Trevor through the licensing process and promised to provide the council with contact information.
Review of Site Visit of APA Team:
Beth Thomas reported that on Monday, September 15th, Mayor Eskridge, Anna and herself met with 3 members of the APA Team, regarding the application for distressed locality help. The Team specifically asked to tour the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The meeting went well, and focused on how, if approved, the Team can help with investigative forensic accounting of the Town’s financial situation, and funds to help with infrastructure repairs and other critical tasks. The person heading the effort to determine Tangier’s eligibility for the assistance was among those present. This program, if approved, could grant Tangier up to $750,000.00 in funds towards mending the Town’s fiscal issues. The Team seemed very interested in helping Tangier and in expediting approval.
Financial Reports:
General Fund:
Tracy Pruitt discussed the state of the Town’s General Fund. She said that the General Fund balance on August 22nd, 2025 was $3,692.92. As of September 17th, 2025, the General Fund balance was $1,700.46. She stated that, due to the cost savings involved in cutting down the number of Town employees, that they had tabled the idea of raising taxes, for the time being.
Wastewater Treatment Plant (WTP):
Kelly Wheatley began by stating that the WTP fund balance, on August 22nd, 2025, was $3,004.93, and as of September 17th, 2025 was $6,055.16. That does not reflect 2 imminently due large loan payments, or the insurance payment. The hope is that the distressed locality funds, once approved, will help mitigate the large drain that the WTP is on the Town’s finances.
Tangier Gas:
Tommy Eskridge stated that the Tangier Gas Fund had a balance of $41,407.47, with two large outstanding checks, still to be accounted for, and some income expected from ANEC’s fuel purchase. He expects to pay Pep-Up $10,000.00 towards the amount of money the Town owes them, that is still in arrears. He is also hoping to make another loan payment of about $5,000.00, to the Methodist Church.
Tommy went on to outline a couple of site visits that have been held by companies who are interested in getting the contract to oversee the removal of the 5 defunct gas and oil tanks on the Gas Dock site. Before the fuel tanks can be removed, the area around the new bulkhead will have to be repaired. Tommy has volunteered to use his excavator to do the work, for a 10th of the cost it would cost to have a professional contractor do it.
He discussed the upcoming plans to remove the poles that remain from the old dock, and to demolish and remove the current fuel dock, at which point, new bulkhead would be installed along the current dock area. It is hoped that boats will be able to come alongside the bulkhead to reach the gas pumps, rather than having to rebuild a new, safer dock over the water – as DEQ is firmly against fuel lines over the water.
A question was raised concerning safeguarding the gas pumps from people, particularly tourists who might not know better – from smoking or using their phone, which may cause a static discharge situation. Tommy assured them that the area would have monitoring, plus safety signs posted and that the entire operation would be updated and modern.
Public Comments:
Teddy Marshall raised a concern about the large amount of trash at the slab. He is particularly concerned that the first impression that the tourists coming in on the Chesapeake Breeze from Reedville get is the giant pile of trash on the slab, as they enter the Tangier harbor. Tommy Eskridge indicated that the council was aware of the issue, and that they have been attempting to find someone on the mainland to take the refuse, but that they had not had any luck yet. A general discussion ensued of possible solutions, including finding a firm to crush and compact the trash, and selling it to a scrap metal dealer.
Grants Report:
Anna Parks had an update on the Nassawadox Creek dredge project. The organizers are trying to fast track permits through the Army Corps of Engineers to get permission to dump dredge on several sites on Tangier, including the area behind the houses on West Ridge, and possibly the Uppards.
The Coastal Project Study has been turned over to be spearheaded by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, in order to save the grant for Tangier. CBF has put out several RFPs and has forwarded the proposals to the Town Council. Once this study is complete, it will open the door for many more opportunities for projects to benefit Tangier. The Study should wrap up sometime next year.
The FAA grant was finally approved, at the last minute. This will allow the Town to go forward with rehabilitating the airport runway and ramp with crack repair, re-striping and re-sealing of the asphalt. The FAA grant will cover most of it, with the State of Virginia responsible for approximately $18,000.00 and the Town having a responsibility to pay $4,700.00 – which Accomack County has agreed to cover under their community development program. The FAA-appointed contractor is due to start work in October.
New Business:
Beth Thomas and Kelly Wheatley have been looking into the feasibility of a Tangier “LOVE” sign, for tourists to stand in front of and take their pictures. The Virginia Department of Tourism has a website with a map of all the “LOVE” signs in Virginia. They do not pay for the erection of a sign, but they will register it on their map. The Town would have to reach out to an artist to contract to have one designed and built to reflect Tangier.
Various Town Council members discussed the numerous and varied clean-up and beautification projects that are ongoing around the Town.
Adjournment:
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Beth Thomas at 6:10 p.m.
The next public meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 4th, 2025.
Tangier Island, Virginia 