By the Drumleys Condominium board of directors
This is in reply to letters to the editor dated August 6 and September 3 taking Drumleys Condominiums to task for appearing before the select board to discuss its concerns about the noise level and conduct of Slide Brook Tavern patrons after hours. It should go without saying that residents of Drumleys Condominiums fully support local businesses and agree that it can be a challenge for businesses to survive in The Valley. Drumleys residents dine, shop and financially support businesses in The Valley, including the Slide Brook Tavern. Furthermore, Drumleys residents have enjoyed good relationships with abutting businesses for many years. In fact, there has never been an issue with an abutting business until the Slide Brook Tavern opened. However, it does become difficult to maintain a good relationship with a business when the proprietor of that business is not operating a business in a considerate and respectful manner toward his neighbors. The problems with Slide Brook go back many years and Drumleys has engaged with Slide Brook’s owner numerous times in the past to try to resolve the issues. It only brought its complaints to the select board when the issues at Slide Brook persisted and worsened.
It is important to note that Drumleys’ complaints are not about noise or music from the bar during the bar’s operating hours. The problem is the conduct of Slide Brooks’ patrons and lodgers after the bar closes. On at least 12 evenings this summer, there was excessive noise beyond 1 a.m. which continued until 4 to 5 in the morning. This included loud screaming, fireworks, horns blaring, profanity being shouted, patrons coming on to Drumleys’ property and cars peeling out of the tavern driveway. On one evening, there were six calls from different individuals to the state police (at approximately 4 a.m.) reporting they had heard a woman screaming and feared she was being attacked by one or more assailants. (This was especially disturbing when one takes into account the newspaper account of a sexual assault on a woman a year earlier at Slide Brook, which is presumably still under investigation.)
Respect is a two-way street. Owners and residents of Drumleys, and for that matter most residents of The Valley, want Slide Brook to remain open and offer an additional choice for dining and entertainment in the Mad River Valley, but Slide Brook has the same duty to act responsibly and lawfully as any other business or resident in The Valley. Further, Drumleys owners pay their fair share of taxes and have the same rights as any other residents in The Valley. To suggest that Drumleys owners should move somewhere else if they don’t like the noise is offensive and divisive. Many Drumleys owners have owned their units for 30 years or more and have happily co-existed with all of their neighbors until now. Drumleys owners are entitled to the same consideration from their neighbors as other residents of The Valley.
The Drumleys board of directors includes Alexandra Harvey, Ed Grinovich, Jake Kojalo, Allison Goodwin and Beth Nichols.
