The Prairie Wind Fitness Center
                                          by Sheridan County Health Plus, Inc   

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You Betcha!

It can work!  Anyone who has raised teenagers knows that it is possible to rationalize anything if it is wanted enough!  This is a danger for proponents of any new endeavor.  Therefore, when this project was first conceived we went through a process to access the feasibility of doing it.  The questions asked were those that any household has to ask before making a new purchase, except, we asked the question for the county as a whole, not a single household.  What is the need of the purchase, what is the cost of the purchase, is the money available?

The need is discussed elsewhere on the website and in our estimation it is not a critical need like a fire department, law enforcement, schools, etc, but it is more than a pure recreational need.

The cost is also discussed elsewhere and in our estimation it can be kept reasonable. 

The availability of the funds is eluded to on the website, but not directly addressed.   All of our households have to balance the books at the end of the year and for most of us there is not a lot left.  This means that if this fitness facility is to be built, the funds will have to come from spending that has already been committed or would be committed to other expenditures.  Is there enough 'fat' in the spending of the residents of our county to divert some spending to constructing and using this facility without putting too much stress on us?  Unless there are a couple of 'rich uncles' out there, this is the question that has to be answered.  It is also where the 'rationalization' comes in.  There are three general categories of spending from which to draw the needed monies: purely discretionary spending, savings realized because of use of the fitness facility, and diversion of other recreational spending to the fitness center because it is more appealing.

Discretionary spending is spending that is not needed for the basic needs of life.  There can be much discussion and debate about this because, after all, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'.  Examples of discretionary spending include getting the fancy car with heated seats rather than the basic model, that extra outfit to wear, the restaurant meal instead of eating at home, the newest digital camera that does great 10x12 pictures, the expensive golf club that sends the ball a mile, etc, etc.  There could be some heated debate about 'discretionary' these suggestions are, and for that reason, we chose to look at six categories of spending that few people would argue were not purely discretionary.  Those were: gambling, smoking, alcohol consumption, soda and coffee, candy, and travel to shop.  The assumptions made and the figures are available here.  The total number for expenditures of Sheridan County residents for these six categories for the year 2006 was astounding to us and indicates that there is enough money available in our county. 

We are by no means suggesting that people should not spend their money in this way and should rather spend it on the fitness center.  It is each individuals right to do as they please with their money.  What this figure shows is that fewer than 25% of the population has this much extra money to spend on these activities, then the other 75% that does not spend this way also has this kind of discretionary money and that it is enough to build and operate such a facility if you the people chose to.  The number was $3,478,000!!!!  In one year by 25% of the adult population.

Health savings are much more difficult to estimate and subject to more debate.  However, with the cost of medications the way they are and health insurance as high as it is we think it reasonable to assume that the physically fit individual will have fewer health expenditures.  If 1,000 people save $60.00 a month because of reduced drug costs because their diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, depression, etc are better controlled there would be a $720,000 annual savings.  If a 1,000 people save $2,000 yearly because health insurance costs are lower in the fit individual, there is a $2,000,000 annual savings.  No matter how you slice it, better fitness means lower health related expenditures.

Other thoughts:  Sheridan County has roughly 4,000 residents and if everyone put away $1.00 a day for two years there would be $2,920,000 in the account.  The planned facility is a very nice center and as planned would have a roughly $35 monthly membership fee with no initiation fee.  Many similar facilities in larger cities are only available to those who join private clubs and have substantial initiation fees.  If we get 400 members and each one donated $5,000 then $2,000,000 would be available.  With 700,000 seeded acres and an above average 30 bu. per acre there is 21 million bushels of grain produced in Sheridan County.  A dime a bushel is $2,000,000.  Oil production in the county is substantial and with $60 a barrel oil, there has to be a substantial amount of money coming into the county from this source.