ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. — The owner of Catalyst Fitness, Amy Bueme, told 2 On Your Side during the last few months they did their homework to make sure when they got the green light to open their doors again, they would be ready.
"We really knew and had a great idea of what the governor was going to ask of us," Bueme said, adding, "The HVAC was not a shock. We knew.
"We already had bought new filters. We already had the REME HALOs already on order that we knew we were going to have to have to kill COVID and get rid of all of the bad air, and then we knew the occupancy was going to be there."
Bueme said right away they requested inspections from the Erie County Department of Health for each of their locations.
"Before we even opened those doors, we were on point with everything we had to do with those guidelines," she said.
But it appears many facilities weren't as on top of it.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said in a news conference on Wednesday that only about a third of all gyms and fitness centers have filed inspection request forms with Erie County.
"I said last week when we announced this that you have to have a safety plan in place, you have to affirm with New York State that you have the safety plan, you have to file that with New York State," he said. "You must request and pass an inspection from the Erie County Department of Health to remain open. Only those who did that were authorized to open on Monday."
He added, "What's going to happen is if you don't request the inspection and we know about your place? Our inspectors are going to come down and shut you down."
Bueme said there could be many reasons facilities haven't requested their inspections yet.
"A lot of gym owners, small studios, are trying to weigh is it even worth me opening with a 33 percent occupancy when my money and my profit is by that monthly recurring and I need a certain amount of people in to be able to pay my rent, pay my payroll and then have a profit," Bueme explained.
Luckily for Catalyst Fitness, she said she's confident their inspections will go smoothly.
Bueme added, "It's really been amazing to be in the building again. It's amazing to be open. The members that are coming in are so happy, so thankful."