County employees to have work-out space in courthouse

YORK – York County employees will soon have a work-out place/small gym in the courthouse.
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The York County Sheriff’s Department spearheaded the effort, but all county employees will have access to it.
The gym area will be located in the basement of the courthouse, in a space which had been used for storage.
As explained by York County Sheriff Captain Josh Gillespie, the work-out equipment will be paid for with federal seizure funds to which the YSO has access.
This week, the York County Commissioners gave official approval for the project.
“I brought this forward a few months ago and they have been moving things around in the basement to create space,” Commissioner Chairman Randy Obermier said. “Now it is time to make a decision if we want to move forward.”
In earlier discussions, Gillespie and Sheriff Paul Vrbka noted how the York Police Department has a work-out space in their facilities and it has proved to be of great benefit to officers.
“This could be a great benefit for all employees,” Gillespie added.
Gillespie brought forward three bids the YSO had received from companies, regarding the exercise equipment – one from Massachusetts, another from a company in Omaha and from a company in Illinois.
“We are recommending the bid from Johnson Fitness in Omaha as it will require less flooring and it will be easier to have someone come here from Omaha to install and maintain,” Gillespie said. “The $49,000 for all the equipment will come from federal seizure funds, not any county tax dollars. The only county money would be for some improvements to the space and the flooring.”
“I’d recommend we use ARPA funds for the flooring as we have been using ARPA funds to re-do flooring throughout the courthouse,” Obermier said. “Recently I talked with other county commissioners who have put exercise spaces in their courthouses for employees, so it is a thing that is happening out there.”
“And this is a permissible use of those federal funds,” Gillespie said.
Commissioner Jack Sikes asked if they had any estimate on what the flooring and room improvements might cost. Gillespie said at the very high end, it could be $15,000 – but they expected it to be much less than that. “And most of the labor, really, has already been done by county employees.”
“The price shouldn’t be too bad,” Obermier added.
All the commissioners voted in favor of moving forward with the project.