To the Editor:

I have been involved in the Switzkill Farm property, owned by the town of Berne since the town purchased it over three-and-a-half years ago. We have been working on programs and activities to welcome guests to this unique property and introduce them to this diamond in the rough, while polishing this diamond and attempting to make it sparkle on a shoestring budget.

In January, Sean Lyons became town supervisor, unseating the prior supervisor [Kevin Crosier] by campaigning on a platform suggesting that he was over reaching his authority and running Berne as his own fiefdom. One of the items highlighted by Mr. Lyons in his campaign was negotiating the purchase of Switzkill Farm for the town without approval by referendum from the town residents and a general lack of transparency on the prior supervisor’s part. I bring this up because I believe I see a flagrant example of Mr. Lyons doing just what he accused his predecessor of doing.

I reached out to Mr. Lyons after he took office and invited him to come up and see the property and join us at our monthly board meeting in January and again in February, of which he could not make either. I indicated that I felt it was important for us to start a dialogue and I wanted to better understand the direction he envisioned for Switzkill Farm, as the new town supervisor.

Saturday, Feb. 17, Mr. Lyons and two other individuals decided to tour the property and stopped by the retreat house where a few renters occupy that location and pay the town rent. One of the residents introduced themselves and offered to show them the retreat house and supplied them a key to access the lodge, another building on the property.

Over a week later, the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb. 27, the newly appointed building inspector was requested by Mr. Lyons to do an inspection of the retreat house. He inspected the retreat house and notified the residents that they had two hours to vacate and that they were being evicted because the smoke alarms were not operating correctly.

On the surface, I could see such a stance by the building inspector, especially with the recent trial of a building inspector in Schenectady. After looking into the issue, I feel maybe an overreaching use of power took place with unclear motivation.

The building inspector was told to do a review of the retreat house many days after Mr. Lyons toured the property. I understand that Mr. Lyons has experience and an understanding of what is needed for a rental property to be in compliance.

It would have been nice if Mr. Lyons gave a heads-up to someone of his concerns and indicate that he was going to escalate this issue. If the issue was so critical to evict the residents the day of the inspection then Mr. Lyons should have addressed those concerns the day he did his tour and not over a week after.

If Mr. Lyons saw this as such a significant concern, he could have reached out to a town maintenance employee, who by the way is also the building inspector or one of many other individuals including myself to address this problem. A trip to the hardware store for smoke alarms or batteries could have saved significant anxiety by the renters.

I have personally apologized to the individuals who were evicted and I am very embarrassed by the way it was handled. As of the writing of this letter, on Thursday, March 1, I have not been informed of this turn of events by the town and feel I should have since I was appointed by the town to the board of the Switzkill Farm.

It makes one wonder why town residents would be treated this way and could it have been handled better.

Ted Kunker, chairman

Switzkill Farm Board