Center requests county defer lease

    Murphy – The owner of Murphy Health & Fitness has asked local lawmakers to defer lease payments for April and May due to the state-mandated closure of gyms as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Rodney Morris asked the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners if he could defer paying a total of $3,000, which he plans to later pay over the course of seven months.
    Morris rents the Murphy Health & Fitness building from the county, and he owns two other fitness center buildings in Franklin and Clayton, Ga. Cherokee County lawmakers approved the deferment, despite objection from Commissioner C.B. McKinnon, who questioned whether the county was willing and able to do the same for the airport and everyday tax-paying citizens.
    Morris received the same deferment approval from the bank that finances his other two locations.
    “We’re handling this the best we can,” Morris told the Cherokee Scout.
    Additionally, hourly staff at the Murphy location have been temporarily laid off so they can collect unemployment benefits. Morris plans to rehire those team members as soon as possible.
    “I don’t know how busy we’ll be when we reopen, so it might be a tiered [rehiring] process,” Morris said. “But our eventual plan is to bring back everyone we had on staff.”
    Gym officials recently emailed members of Murphy Health & Fitness to inform them about at-home versions of workouts that were created by personal trainers across all three of Morris’ locations. The workouts were specifically created to use minimal or optional equipment so members can stay active at home. The workout videos are available on the Murphy Health & Fitness Facebook page and their website.
    Morris also secured a partnership with Les Mills International to allow gym members to stream about 100 different workouts and breathing exercises from their home. Those exercises can be accessed at watch.lesmillsondemand.com/at-home-workouts/season:1.
    “We hope that you will keep your membership active during this virtual period, if possible,” the email to gym members said. “Upon reopening, we will be able to credit your account for time lost. If you need to freeze your account, you can do so for 90 days without a fee.”
    As of the Scout’s press time Tuesday, Murphy Health & Fitness is the only business leasing from the county that has requested to defer rent payments. A local woman said Monday the center automatically charged her bank account for next year’s membership, but she was unaware of the freeze option.