[T]imothy Tierney, who served for more than a decade as the head of the Kingdom Trails Association, has resigned.
However, the reasons for his abrupt departure remain unclear.
Also, it was announced Monday at a meeting of the Burke Area Chamber of Commerce that Tierney had quit as president of the chamber’s board of directors, according to people who attended the meeting.
Other chamber officers could not immediately be reached Monday for comment. A call to the chamber’s phone number late Monday afternoon went straight to voicemail.
The trail association’s board of directors, in a statement, said it accepted Tierney’s resignation as executive director on Friday, effective immediately. He had headed the nonprofit association since January 2004.
The one-paragraph statement Friday from the board does not include any comment from Tierney or say if he gave a reason for leaving.
Tierney could not be reached for comment.
Matt Langlais, president of the trails association’s board of directors, said late Friday afternoon that the board did not ask for Tierney’s resignation.
“The resignation was submitted by Tim,” Langlais said.
Langlais declined to comment on whether there was any severance package or buyout made to Tierney as a result of the resignation.
Questions over Tierney’s status with the organization have swirled for the past two weeks in East Burke village.
Langlais would not say if Tierney had been on administrative leave.
In the statement issued Friday and again in an interview, Langlais thanked Tierney for his service and his role in growing the Kingdom Trails Association, which now encompasses 100 miles of recreational trails that draw 90,000 visitors a year.
“We are appreciative of Tim’s service and stewardship over the years and the role he played in making KTA what it is today,” Langlais said in the statement. “With three very seasoned and dedicated employees, over 20 seasonal staff and the volunteer support of our community, we are well-positioned and prepared for our upcoming peak recreational season and to handle major events such as NEMBAFest.”
In its statement, the trail association board said that in the coming weeks it will establish a process for the search to find a new executive director.
Langlais said the group is continuing to move forward, with trail expansion projects underway and visitor numbers this year expected to reach 90,000 again.
“We’re on track to meet that again,” he said. “Our crews are out slinging dirt right now building some new trails.”
As the executive director of Kingdom Trails and president of the chamber board, Tierney has held a great deal of sway in the East Burke community.
Some business people in East Burke, coming off the ski season, have raised concerns over Tierney holding both positions, at the KTA and the chamber. The trail association is closely tied to Burke Mountain Resort, while the chamber’s membership includes businesses in the village, away from the mountain.
Burke Mountain has been overseen by a court-appointed receiver since investor fraud charges were brought against owner Ariel Quiros. The receiver, Michael Goldberg, couldn’t be reached Friday for comment on Tierney’s departure.
The relationship between the ski resort and KTA had been rocky before the receivership but has improved greatly since.
Tierney was among the speakers in early September when the resort opened the 116-room hotel at the base of the slopes. The hotel had been in peril of not opening under the previous ownership amid the scandal of the investor fraud allegations.
“We are a tight community,” Tierney said at the hotel’s grand opening event. “Burke and the mountain are one, and everybody is tied to each other.”
Two groups with a strong interest in the Kingdom Trails Association declined to comment directly on Tierney’s resignation but spoke to the role KTA plays.
The Kingdom Trails Association oversees the largest mountain biking network in Vermont and among the largest in the Northeast, according to Tom Stuessy, executive director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association. He described the KTA’s trails as “world class.”
“It’s impossible to overstate what it’s meant to Vermont,” Stuessy said of KTA on Friday, ”both as an economic driver but also as an example on how to collaborate in positive ways with so many landowners.”
Michael Sher, president of the Friends of Burke Mountain, said Friday that Kingdom Trails is a very important part of the economy of the Northeast Kingdom and Burke Mountain.
“We hope everyone will do all they can to support Kingdom Trails during this transition,” he added.
/
