Monroe County Employees to Receive on-the-Job Exercise Equipment

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Monroe County is investing in the health of its employees with on-the-job exercise equipment.

On Tuesday, the Monroe County Council got its first look at a $40,000 project to put stand-up desks, treadmills, and recumbent bikes in county office buildings.

Administrator Angela Purdie told the council many county employees already use stand up desks. Adding treadmills and bikes allows employees to keep fit while doing their daily tasks.

County Council member Marty Hawk spoke favorably about the project. She said employees sitting in one spot for hours on end is not only bad for moral, it also runs up the county’s insurance costs.

The exercise equipment is one of several improvement projects to be funded by a new, $3 million dollar general obligation bond. Should the council approve the bond, County Attorney Jeff Cockerill says it will also fund improvements to county buildings, and the Monon rail-trail.

One such project will expand offices and equipment storage at the county’s highway garage on West Foster Curry Drive. The county intends to bring its Office of Emergency Management into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act as part of that project.

Also on the list, is paving the Monon rail-trail from Ellettsville to Woodyard Road, in north western Bloomington.

Cockerill says the bond money will also back the county’s offer to purchase the Red Lot from the City of Bloomington. The one-acre parking lot lies adjacent to the Showers Building and provides 70 parking spaces. The county bid on the lot last year. Cockerill says an actual offer is now in the works.

He told the Monroe County council that the new bond will not impact taxpayers because an existing county bond is about to be paid off.

The bond authorization request was on its first reading with the Council Tuesday. The request will come before the council again in October.