To the Editor:

I am writing this letter to clear up some misconceptions that have been put out to the public in a letter to the editor of this paper and on social media.

As reported in last week’s Enterprise, Berne is in the process of creating a new playground at the Berne Town Park. The first phase of this is a purchased unit to be installed this summer. In the early planning stages for this year’s Summerfest, it seemed likely that the new playground equipment would be in the process of being installed on the festival date.

The decision was made to have a smaller, different festival this year, focusing on music concerts and a tent with music-themed activities for kids and to hold it at Switzkill Farm, thereby eliminating any conflict with the playground construction.

This decision was made by the Summerfest Committee and the Switzkill Farm Board, not by the supervisor, as has been implied.

By the beginning of June, it became clear that the playground installation was going to happen sooner than expected and would be completed before the festival, so the decision was made — again, by the Summerfest Committee and after consultation with the Switzkill Farm Board — that Summerfest would be a wonderful opportunity to have a grand opening of the new equipment. Consequently, the venue was changed back to the Berne Town Park. This decision had nothing to do with any other factor.

To be specific, there is, in fact, plenty of potable water at Switzkill Farm. The Buddhists held a retreat for 400 people there a number of years ago and, in April, the United Blood Trackers had an event for 80.  Other events held there have been for numbers over 100.

Sewage is not an issue. There are a number of bathrooms at the facility and portable toilets are brought in for larger groups — just like every other town in the area does for their town parks. The road is an adequate width and in no different condition than any of the many seasonal roads in the town and there is plenty of overflow parking in grass fields — as you would expect for a rural town park in a rural town.

I am deeply saddened by the apparent need of a few to spread misinformation and rumors about the good things our town is doing for its residents for no other apparent reason than to influence the opinion of the many.

We welcome you to our town board meetings to hear the truth. There is a time at the beginning for questions and concerns.

There is certainly a place in this world for criticism but, unless it is backed up by fact, not conjecture or falsehoods, and accompanied with positive ideas for beneficial actions, it remains nothing but empty rhetoric.

Dawn Jordan

Berne Town Board

Summerfest Committee

Editor’s note: Last week, Tim Lippert, the code-enforcement officer for Berne, wrote to say he was relieved Summerfest would be held at the Berne town park instead of Switzkill Farm. He attributed the plan for hosting the event at Switzkill Farm to Berne Supervisor Kevin Crosier, which he said “would have put his ego above the health and safety of our residents.”

Lippert and Crosier have been at odds, most notably after Crosier last fall fired Lippert’s partner, Scott Green, from his town job. According to an account from town clerk Anita Clayton, which The Enterprise obtained from a Freedom of Information Law request, Lippert was mistakenly added to Green’s health insurance. Crosier wrote to Green on Sept. 12 that Lippert could be enrolled but the two would be responsible for additional costs not covered by the 85-percent premium offered to individuals and their dependents. The situation escalated with the termination letter dictated by Crosier stating that Green was to be fired for “gross insubordination.”