Guidelines for Kitchen Use

---

First,  a few words about the Culinary Center, also known as the Gays Mills Community Kitchen. This facility was designed to meet multiple needs, especially to facilitate the development of new food-related businesses in our area. Its layout and equipment inventory were designed to allow more than one user to work in it at a time. Accomplishing that will require some cooperation among all of the kitchen’s users, however, especially when a portion of the kitchen is being used for the production of a licensed, commercial food product.

Who Qualifies. These policies are designed to facilitate the use of the kitchen by residents of the Village of Gays Mills and for community groups for which they work as volunteers, for the purpose of preparing food for local, non-commercial use. Use of the kitchen is not contingent on use of the adjacent Village Hall or Board Meeting Room. It should be noted that kitchen policies for food processors are much more stringent than these, so as to comply with state and federal food safety regulations.

Scheduling Kitchen Use. As noted above, arrangements for use of the kitchen are made independently of arrangements for the Village Hall, which are coordinated by the Village Clerk’s office. Use of the kitchen is coordinated by the Kitchen Manager. Kitchen users should call the Kitchen General Manager, 608.391.1271,  at least forty-eight (48) hours before the desired time of use. If the kitchen is available, the user will be provided with a form that lays out the user’s needs in detail, including the amount of dry, cooler or freezer space needed in connection with the kitchen project. Users must schedule a minimum of four (4) consecutive hours each time. Scheduled kitchen time must be paid for at the time of scheduling; if payment is not received with the reservation form, the reservation cannot be confirmed. However, exceptions to these rules are made in extraordinary circumstances.

Cancellations. Cancellations of scheduled kitchen time must be received as soon as possible but no later than forty-eight (48) hours in advance if you wish to get a refund on your rental payment. Exceptions are made in extraordinary circumstances.

Rental Rate for Residents/"locals."- Gays Mills Residents will pay a discount rate of $12 per hour for use of the kitchen when scheduling allows. We ask for a $50 deposit check. This check holds the kitchen. A separate check is written toward the rental. If the kitchen is returned clean, the deposit check is returned. Sanitation must follow state and federal guidelines. If a determination is made that extra sanitation is required, fees may be assessed. (Please clean up after yourselves.) A separate billing for use of the kitchen will be billed.

Sanitary Precautions. Each kitchen user group is encouraged to include at least one person trained, and certified, in food sanitation, e.g., in a program such as SafeServ. In any case, it will be the user’s responsibility to return the kitchen area used to its original condition, as outlined in the Facility Checklist provided. Failure to follow the checklist will result in forfeiture of the user’s deposit.

Signing In and Out. All users are required to sign in when they arrive at the facility and begin to assemble their products. Users should use the Facility Checklist form to note any aspect of the kitchen that needs attention. The Kitchen General Manager will be responsible to ensure that users have a clean kitchen whenever they reserve a space. If kitchen conditions are unacceptable, please contact the Kitchen Manager immediately to have the issue resolved and/or monies refunded. Users sign out when they are finished cleaning the facility, attesting that all equipment is in its proper place. Failure to sign in and out as required may result in the user being denied future use of the facility. If any equipment is missing that was not reported during sign in, the user’s security deposit may be used to cover the expense of replacement.

Restrictions. Unless otherwise arranged in advance, local/resident users of the kitchen will be restricted to the Catering Area of the kitchen, which is well equipped for meal production and offers easy access to the Village Hall and the dishwashing station. Users are asked to respect the rope barriers designating other areas. The goal is to preserve sanitized work surfaces in those areas for licensed food processors.

Children are welcome in the kitchen when participating in programs designed specifically for their culinary and/or nutritional education and when they have appropriate adult supervision.

Child workers are permitted to assist in catered food preparation, subject to the restrictions specified in state and federal child labor laws, e.g., they may not work with dangerous machinery, and they must have adult supervision.
**But children are NOT permitted in the kitchen as visitors while adults are engaged in food preparation for catered functions or for other purposes. And children are NOT permitted in the kitchen when licensed food processing is underway in other areas of the kitchen.

Clean-up. Users are responsible for the tidy stowage of wastes in the trash bags provided and placed in the appropriate receptacles in the outdoor dumpster enclosure. If the kitchen is being used in connection with the Village Hall, then kitchen users are responsible for the tidy removal of trash from both areas.