Vineyard Trust executive director Funi Burdick has resigned effective immediately, after irregularities were discovered in public funding requests for restoration work at two of its flagship properties.

Ms. Burdick’s resignation was announced in an emailed statement from Vineyard Trust chairman Patrick Ahearn early Wednesday afternoon. Sally Rorer, a board member and prior chairman, will take over as interim president, the statement said.

In the statement, Mr. Ahearn said the Trust conducted an internal investigation after it learned there had been irregularities in submissions to Edgartown and Oak Bluffs for Community Preservation Act funding for work on the Old Whaling Church and Flying Horses Carousel.

Ms. Burdick presided over the overhaul of the Carnegie building in Edgartown, which is now an interactive heritage museum.

Mark Alan Lovewell

Ms. Burdick presided over the overhaul of the Carnegie building in Edgartown, which is now an interactive heritage museum.

Mark Alan Lovewell

Following the investigation, it was determined that Vineyard Trust staff were responsible for the mistakes.

“Based on the conclusion of our review, I have accepted the resignation of Vineyard Trust’s President, Funi Burdick, effective today,” Mr. Ahearn wrote in the statement. “She has accepted full responsibility and accountability for these regrettable mistakes.”

Edgartown officials recently put on hold more than $170,000 in public funding for repainting and restoration work at the Old Whaling Church after town administrator James Hagerty learned just before the annual town meeting that a work estimate had been altered without knowledge of the contractor, John Anderson.

Mr. Hagerty confirmed that the changes to the work estimate, which included an additional $60,000 in funding and changes describing the type of work, were made by Ms. Burdick.

In the statement Wednesday, Mr. Ahearn said irregularities were also discovered in Vineyard Trust funding applications for restoration work at the Flying Horses Carousel.

Oak Bluffs voters approved a $72,300 request at their annual town meeting this spring to restore the historic carousel platform, organ and drive train, as well as the replacement of exterior doors on the building.

Speaking to the Gazette by phone Wednesday, Mr. Ahearn said the irregularities in the Oak Bluffs application were not the same as at the Whaling Church, but he declined further comment.

In the statement Mr. Ahearn apologized to the two towns. “We sincerely apologize to the communities of Edgartown and Oak Bluffs for these submission errors,” he wrote.

Ms. Burdick could not be reached for comment.

On Wednesday, Ms. Burdick sent a letter to the town of Edgartown, apologizing for the errors and announcing her resignation. In her letter, she said that restorations to nationally registered historic buildings like the Whaling Church had to follow extensive guidelines.

“When Mr. Anderson submitted his quote, it included painting, but not all of the work necessary to complete the project according to these Department of Interior guidelines,” Ms. Burdick wrote. “I acknowledge that I should have picked up the phone to clarify directly with Mr. Anderson whether he was taking into account the full scope of the work at hand and asked him to refine his estimate if necessary. Again, I sincerely apologize for that error.”

Oak Bluffs town administrator Wendy Brough confirmed on Thursday that Ms. Burdick did not send a letter to the town of Oak Bluffs.

Formerly the head of the Canterbury Shaker Village in New Hampshire with a background in museums and architecture, she became executive director in 2017, taking over for longtime executive director Christopher Scott who was retiring.

The nonprofit Trust owns 20 historic buildings on the Island, including the Whaling Church, the Grange Hall in West Tisbury, Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs and the Vineyard Gazette building in Edgartown.

During her tenure, Ms. Burdick has presided over a period of change at the Trust, including a full rebranding and the change of its name from the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust to the Vineyard Trust.

She also oversaw a comprehensive architectural overhaul of the Carnegie building, the former Edgartown library on North Water street which now houses an Island heritage museum, and recently signed a lease agreement with the owners of LeRoux at Home to take over Alley’s General Store in West Tisbury.

The new Alley’s has not reopened yet.

“Funi has done many positive things for the Vineyard Trust since joining us four years ago,” Mr. Ahearn said in the statement. “She has been a good steward of our properties and has strengthened our organization in many ways, and we thank her for her service.”

He said the Trust would launch a search for Ms. Burdick’s replacement, and said he had asked the governance committee to take steps to ensure similar errors are not repeated in the future.

The complete statement from Mr. Ahearn follows:

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After it was brought to my attention there may have been irregularities with Vineyard Trust’s submissions to the Towns of Edgartown and Oak Bluffs for CPC funding to restore the Old Whaling Church and Flying Horses, respectively, as board chairman I immediately launched a thorough review and analysis of these submissions.

The Vineyard Trust executive committee and I, along with three of our past board chairs, have regrettably concluded errors were made in the grant applications prepared by staff and submitted to each town, and there simply is no excuse for that. The restoration of historic nationally registered structures must comply with the U.S. Department of Interior guidelines, as well as those of each town when applying for funding for restoration. While mistakes were made by the Vineyard Trust’s staff, we believe they were honest mistakes made without malice or fraudulent intent. Nonetheless, these errors are totally unacceptable, and we apologize for them.

Based on the conclusion of our review, I have accepted the resignation of Vineyard Trust’s president, Funi Burdick, effective today. She has accepted full responsibility and accountability for these regrettable mistakes. Funi has done many positive things for the Vineyard Trust since joining us four years ago. She has been a good steward of our properties and has strengthened our organization in many ways, and we thank her for her service. We will launch a search for her replacement, and in the meantime, Sally Rorer, past chairman, has agreed to serve as interim president of the organization. I thank Sally for her leadership during this time until we find Funi’s replacement.

Importantly, I have asked our governance committee, chaired by Robin Graham, to establish a strict protocol to ensure errors of this nature are not repeated. We take very seriously our stewardship of the twenty historic properties under our care and ownership, and we want to maintain transparency in all that we do. We pledge to ensure the resources entrusted to us by the towns and our donors are handled professionally and diligently as we preserve much of the Island’s heritage through these twenty properties. We sincerely apologize to the communities of Edgartown and Oak Bluffs for these submission errors and we will make every effort to ensure they are not repeated in the future.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.