Bar owners align for community safety, responsible drinking
A new group has formed among Spring business owners to promote safety in the community.
The Montgomery County Bar Owners Alliance is in the process of establishing a code of standards as it seeks out local county bars to align with as a measure for community safety.
“We aligned for one common reason: community safety, which extends to our employees, our customers, our roadways and our community at large,” Marty Wilgers said in a press release. Wilgers is serving as the communications director for the Montgomery County Bar Owners Alliance. “We also aligned because those who have joined the group have a long-standing practice of providing cabs for intoxicated patrons and taking responsible measures to make sure our customers have a good but safe time in our establishments.”
In the press release, the group points to these high standards of customer provision in safety as not only being a result of the recent tragedies in the community, but have been a long-standing collective consciousness of the group.
“Most of us have been in the industry for a long time,” Wilgers said. “Having a customer that has had a little too much to drink is not new to us. We have been providing safety measures for our patrons for as long as we have been in business. We hope that this alliance influences other bar owners to join us in our effort to be responsible hosts to our customers by not over-serving while they are in our establishments or over-looking the state of mind of our customer when they leave our establishment.”
Additional programs being used by area bars include Alert Cab and Milstead Automotive’s Last Call program.
“We have our signs in most of the restrooms in local establishments and in all of the establishments pertaining to the newly formed Montgomery County Bar Owners Alliance,” Amy Milstead, president of Milstead Automotive, said in the release. “We think this alliance is a great first step with owners sharing various types of programs to keep our community safe, which is our number-one concern at Milstead. Our program is especially helpful in that we take both the patron and their car home for a low fee. There have also been times where we have arranged, on special occasions, an onsite courtesy car.”
One of the first priorities of the newly established alliance is to encourage designated driver programs.
Current members of the alliance are Americas, Brass Monkey, Club 303, Crescent Moon Wine Bar and Restaurant, Exit 73 Bar and Grill, Martinis and More, Ranch Hill Saloon, Rebels Honky Tonk, Rookies Sports Bar and Grill, Tewbeleaux’s Sports Bar and Grill and The Exchange.
Members will display the group’s logo so patrons know the bar owner is focused on the overall safety of the community. For more information on the Montgomery County Bar Owners Alliance, email atbarownersalliance@yahoo.com.
