Nearly a year after launching a wellness program for employees, Clark County officials are considering plans to establish a fitness center at the Springview Government Center.

Clark County commissioners on Tuesday discussed a proposal to create a 24-hour wellness and fitness center on the ground floor of the government center at 3130 E. Main St. The center would concentrate mostly on weight loss, but would also provide weightlifting and other exercise equipment and could potentially cost between $20,000 to $30,000 to establish.

Human Resource Director Michelle Nobel and County Administrator Nathan Kennedy said the county’s wellness program has helped reduce health insurance claims and the fitness center should do more to save the county money and improve the health of county employees.

“It’s a way of controlling costs and it’s good for people, too,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy said officials could pay for the wellness project using funds from a loan, funds from a wellness grant and accessing 50 cents to $1 fee per month on county employees’ health insurance rates.

Commissioners Rick Lohnes and David Hartley approved plans Tuesday to have an architect provide cost estimates on renovating the ground level of the government center.

Officials may vote on whether to proceed with the project in January. If approved, the project could be complete by August.

“It’s an investment that could pay for itself,” Lohnes said.

The proposed project comes just as officials are expected to spend thousands to move tenants from the Clark County Agricultural Services Building into government center.

OSU Extension Horticulture and 4-H along with other agencies will move out of the agricultural building after commissioners voted 2-1 to lease the building to the Springfield-Clark County Chamber of Commerce’s Community Improvement Corporation.

The CIC will sublease the building for five years at an undisclosed amount to Konecranes, a crane company that plans to establish a global training facility in the community. The training facility is expected to add 25 new jobs to the community.

Konecranes also has an option to extend the lease to an additional five years.

The county could spend between $500,000 to $700,000 on renovations and fixtures to move the tenants into the facility, Kennedy said. It’s unknown how much the county will spend to move the extension center’s gardens.

Lohnes predicts the project will cost less than Kennedy’s estimates and that the Konecranes deal will pay for renovation costs.

“I’m not a contractor and I’m not an architect … but I’m confident with a high degree of certainty that the (10-year) lease payments will cover the remodeling of the (Springview) building,” Lohnes said.

“I’m confident that it’s going to cost less than $500,000. If it bumps up against $500,000, that’s what we’re going to make in the 10-year lease.”

Commissioners are also seeking a Local Government Innovation Fund grant for $40,000 or more to hire an architect to study building renovation needs and will also apply for a $300,000 LGIF 10-year, zero percent loan to fund the changes.

Hartley voted against leasing the building to Konecranes, saying moving the tenants and the gardens to the government center would cost the county upwards of $1 million.

Hartley, however, supports adding a wellness and fitness center to the government center, saying the health insurance costs have increased less than 1 percent annually, while national trends have been about 10 percent.

He also said the wellness center is an investment in county employees and will reduce health claims.

“(The 20,000 to $30,000) that’s coming out of health insurance. Plus, we’re going to save money.,” Hartley said.