Parks to limit kitchen usage

The Point Roberts parks board clarified that they will not allow the community center kitchen to be used commercially, despite a $22,848 septic system upgrade completed in August 2024. The discussion took place at their regular monthly board meeting on December 9.

The septic upgrade project had been awarded to local contractor Ken Calder. Calder had also installed the community center septic system in 2020.     

Although the upgrade was intended to allow for expanded kitchen use, Allison Calder, who is married to Ken Calder, expressed concerns about commercial use. “I don’t know what they’re going to put into it,” she said, referring to potential commercial renters and the upgraded system. “We want to see what the system is going to do. We want to make sure you guys are protecting your investment; you don’t want to be overloading the system.”

Park administrator Dee Gough added, “Anybody who makes food in here turns around and sells it, they have to have state permits and all sorts of things. We’re not getting any part of this. I don’t want any part of it.”

Commissioner Michael Cressy questioned the outcome, asking, “Are we getting what we were anticipating by redoing this septic system? Wasn’t there a push to rent out the kitchen commercially?”

In a phone interview with the All Point Bulletin, Tom Kunesh, food safety program supervisor at the Whatcom County health department, explained that while the upgraded septic system allows for a broader range of food preparation, the parks board had opted to restrict the kitchen to nonprofit groups like Point Roberts Circle of Care and Point Roberts Emergency Preparedness.

“The community center has a kitchen that meets commercial standards for some types of food preparation and service activity,” Kunesh said. “With the work that was completed over the summer, it allows us to consider applications for food establishment permits that go beyond the scope of the senior meals and occasional fundraisers that had been permitted in the past,” Kunesh said.

“However, it sounds like the Point Roberts park board isn’t interested in signing off on all applications to use the kitchen. They’ve expressed an interest in allowing nonprofits to use the kitchen, but not necessarily for-profits,” Kunesh added.

Kunesh explained the process needed  for the kitchen to be used commercially.

“From our perspective, it would just require a little bit of extra work for the kitchen to be used commercially, and that work would be done by the person that wants to use it commercially. We would ask the applicant to obtain a signed commissary agreement from the folks that are in charge of the community center, so it wouldn’t be any extra work or money on their part.” He emphasized that “the code requirements are the same whether you’re for-profit or not-for-profit.”

Kitchen rental pricing was finalized by the parks board members at $50 for dining hall use, $75 for kitchen and dining hall use, and $100 for non-residents for a six-hour period.