WHITINGHAM- Town officials met with local seniors Wednesday afternoon to discuss concerns regarding a kitchen renovation project at the town’s municipal center.

The renovation plan calls for the closure of the current kitchen, located in the building’s basement, and the construction of a new kitchen upstairs, in what is now a food preparation and serving area.

Whitingham Fire Chief Stanley Janovsky said he suggested Wednesday’s meeting because rumors that the Council On Aging’s senior meals program and Meals on Wheels were being “thrown out of the building” because of the renovation were causing division in the town. “We’re not throwing the seniors out by any means,” Janovsky said. “I enjoy having them here and I think it’s a great program to have here. One of the reasons we’re doing this is to make sure we can still have the seniors here.”

During the renovation, senior meals will be held at Valbert’s Restaurant in Jacksonville but, according to Whitingham Town Administrator Bonnie Jo Radasch, no formal agreement has been discussed regarding the return of the council’s meals after the renovation. “That’s up to them,” she said. “It’s the council’s decision whether they return, not ours.” But several seniors at the meeting said they wanted the meals to return to the municipal center, and said they expected they would.

The renovation, which has been under consideration for more than a year, was prompted by concerns about safety, said Janovsky. A dumbwaiter used to transfer food and dishes between the downstairs kitchen area and the upstairs dining room has broken down on several occasions, and recently a cable broke, shattering $300 worth of dishes. Minor fires have also broken out in the dumbwaiter when the electric motor became overheated.

“There are also code problems downstairs,” said Janovsky. “They aren’t immediate problems, but we’d probably have to close the kitchen downstairs eventually.”

Under the plan, the existing cabinetry and other equipment will be removed from the upstairs serving area to make way for new cabinets and equipment, including a new commercial stove and oven with a hood fire protection system, a smaller domestic stove, a new commercial dishwasher, five new refrigerator/freezers, two sinks, and preparation surfaces. Kitchen committee member Almira Aekus said the overall price of the renovation has been estimated at $100,000, but she said the actual out-of-pocket expense to taxpayers may be negligible, thanks to a grant of $25,000 and the use of town labor and services. Aekus said that, in the grant application for state funding, the value of town labor and services was estimated at $50,000, leaving about $25,000 to be paid by the town.

Aekus said the selectboard may decide to tap the Eames Fund for the additional money. Expenditures from the interest on the Eames Fund can be used, at the discretion of the selectboard, “for the betterment of the town.”

Pete Bernard, a town employee, will carry out the renovation. Bernard said some of the work had already begun, and he planned to have the project completed and the kitchen ready for use within three months. “I also plow and work on the roads,” Bernard said, “so I don’t know exactly how many days I’ll be able to spend in here. But it will be under three months, and it will be done in time for the maple sugar festival and the (Deerfield Valley) Stump Jumpers dinner.”

Radasch said the rest of the public space in the main room of the municipal center could still be used during the renovation. The kitchen will be blocked off with a portable, expandable partition while the work is being carried out. “It has come to our attention that there are some programs like Bone Builders and blood pressure clinics that may not be able to use the space at Valbert’s,” she said. “If they want to continue to meet here, there may be a way we can accommodate that.”

Several people at the meeting asked if the town had coordinated their effort with the Council on Aging, and whether a representative from COA had been asked to serve on the committee. Radasch hinted that some of the communication between the town and the council had been “difficult.”

“We’ve checked in with them from time to time,” she said. “At moments it has been difficult because there are some strong opinions about what this change means.”

Radasch said there had been a request, from one of COA’s food staff, to serve on the committee. “At the time that request came in, there were already some difficult communications that were occurring,” Radasch said. “There was a feeling that the committee needed to be focused on the task at hand and move forward.”

Kitchen committee member Sherry Adams said it appeared there had been some miscommunication “and things got twisted up a little bit. We want to get it out that they’re not being asked to leave, we want them to come back, and this won’t change anything other than there will be a new kitchen.”