While State Sen. Lynwood Lewis (D-Accomac) came to Mathews Tuesday night to discuss the latest session of the General Assembly, field questions from constituents, and offer assistance about state matters, several of the concerns brought up were issues that were not under his control as a Virginia legislator.

The town hall meeting was held in the historic courthouse, giving the 20-25 residents in attendance some one-on-one time with their representative in the General Assembly.

During the question-and-answer session that followed his presentation about the 2015 legislative session, much of the discussion centered on two issues—an effort to ensure that the beach at Tin Can Alley on Gwynn’s Island remains open to the public, and the problem of illegal immigration.

On the first issue, an ongoing dispute between residents who want to keep the beach public and adjoining property owners who want to claim it as their private property, there was little Lewis could offer aside fro...