BACKGROUND

     A little over a year ago a committee was formed to evaluate our Church’s need concerning kitchen and fellowship space.  The committee consisted of one pastor and another church staff member, the president of the church council, several other council members and a couple of the ladies who frequently work preparing funeral lunches and other food related activities in our present kitchen and fellowship hall.  The committee began discussing needs, desires and possibilities, and visited a few other local kitchen/fellowship facilities to help visualize what was working well and not working for others.  The committee also took a fresh look at a proposal for an entirely new kitchen/fellowship addition to the Church which was proposed about 17 years ago.  As monthly progress reports were made to the Church council, committee members began to get input from Church members about things that needed to be addressed to improve our kitchen/fellowship area.  The overwhelming amount of input was focused on our present kitchen and fellowship hall and not the need to consider a new addition to the Church.  This led the committee to believe that they were on the right track by focusing on improving what our Church presently has rather than tackling a new addition.  

DESIGN

     After a few months of formulating criteria for improvements, a kitchen design expert known to one of the committee members volunteered to join the committee at no cost to help with actual design layouts.  There were a lot of small improvements that were incorporated into the design, but some of the most significant criteria were: 1) more space, the present kitchen is simply too small, 2) a center island work space separate from the serving window area, 3) a high speed dishwasher, 4) sinks located to allow efficient inflow and outflow when hand washing dishes, 5) a better flow of dirty dishes back to the kitchen, 6) access to the present pantry storage area directly from the kitchen.  An evaluation of available classroom space determined that the classroom immediately south of the present kitchen could be utilized for kitchen expansion without adversely affecting education and other functions.  The committee met with the Hastings building inspector to make sure that there would not be unforeseen problems and or expenses.  After several months of evaluating a number of proposed layouts the committee settled on a design that they felt best met the established goals.  An architect from our congregation helped to obtain a structural engineering design for the removal of the support wall that would be necessary for the expansion and the $7,500 engineering fee was paid for from a fund that had received a number of donations earmarked for kitchen remodeling.  

COST

     The committee wanted to make sure that members of our congregation who might want to submit a bid for various portions for the construction would have an opportunity to do so.  This meant that the only thing the committee could get in the time available was a budgetary estimate of the total cost.  The estimate was $308,000 + or - $50,000.  The high variance amount in the estimate is due in large part to the fact that specific materials (cabinets, countertops, floor and wall coverings, etc.) have not yet been selected.  There are a few other important things to understand about the project cost.  Water supply lines in this portion of the building are very old, corroded and causing problems and will need to be dealt with regardless of any kitchen remodeling.  Cost is somewhat uncertain depending on what needs to be done.  Asbestos floor tile will need to be removed which requires hiring an asbestos abatement company.  This $17,000 cost is included in the above estimated cost and includes removing the tile from the entire kitchen and fellowship hall rather than having two separate asbestos abatement projects.  In an abundance of caution the committee did not want to present a cost estimate that was too low, so it took the high end of the contractor’s estimate and added estimates for  appliances, plumbing repair and new flooring for the fellowship hall to come up with the $400,000 figure.

FUNDING

     Throughout the committee’s work the thought had always been to utilize Rief Memorial funds for the project and not incur any debt for the Church.  The Rief Memorial fund is entirely separate from the Church’s general operating fund and grows each year receiving income from a farmland trust established by Ed Rief.  Previous projects done with Rief Memorial funds include the purchase of the two houses that used to be where our west parking lot is presently, the paving of the west parking lot and payment for the unbudgeted cost of Leah Shaw’s one year internship with us prior to her joining our staff.  The Rief memorial fund presently has enough money to pay for the proposed kitchen remodel and most likely enough left for a fellowship hall facelift as a separate project.

QUESTIONS

      At the quarterly voters’ meeting on October 26, 2025, with about 40 members present, a motion was made to proceed with the proposed kitchen remodeling project as outlined above.  During the discussion the proposal from January 2009 for an entirely new addition to the Church was brought up.  This plan called for a 5,100 square foot metal building addition attached to the south east corner of our present building and included a kitchen, fellowship hall and restrooms.  The estimated cost at that time was $900,000 and would be at least twice to three times that amount presently.  When discussion ended and the votes on the motion were counted there were 16 votes for the kitchen remodel project and 25 votes against.  This outcome left the committee with many questions about what it meant and what if anything the committee should do next.  Some of these questions are:

Does the congregation want to build and pay for a new kitchen/fellowship addition?

Does the congregation feel a need for improvements to our present kitchen and fellowship hall?

Does the congregation have enough information about the proposed kitchen remodel to make an informed decision?  

Does the congregation think that $400,000 is too much to spend for remodeling?

Does the congregation understand where the money for a kitchen remodel would come from?

Did the 41 votes cast at the voters’ meeting accurately reflect the wishes of the entire congregation?