‘Alcohol alternatives’ and community aid

go out in the evening and not end up near folks drinking.

BY RACHEL LORENZ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Whether it’s shooting pool or bowling with friends, one Colorado business owner noticed it’s hard to

“All of our social time is all spent around alcohol,” Ryan Gnieski told Colorado Community Media. “ ere’s got to be something better than that, you know? We o er that alternative.”

Gnieski recently opened at’s Kava, a bar that serves kava and other non-alcoholic beverages, on South Broadway in Englewood.

Kava is a tea-like drink made from the root of a plant in the pepper family, found in the South Paci c islands. Served cold in a small bowl that mimics a coconut shell, kava has a relaxing e ect but doesn’t a ect your motor skills, Gnieski said.

“It acts as a social lubricant, loosens your shoulders, makes you a little more talkative — but it doesn’t impair your judgment,” said Samuel Annes,

Councilmember Rita Russell raised the topic during the June 20 city council meeting, sharing her desire for in-person attendance rather than virtual or hybrid, which means the option for virtual or in-person attendance.

“COVID-19 is over and we need to get back to in-person meetings. I think all boards and commission meetings need to be in person. I think we need to move forward with that soon,” Russell said.

“And I also think that we need to go to in-person city council meetings and no hybrid meetings,” she continued. “ e public wants us to be back in person, and I think that we do need to be back in person.”

Several other members of council

SEE COUNCIL, P2 explained they prefer in-person attendance but think a hybrid option should be available in case someone is unable to attend in person.

Wink, who was attending the meeting virtually for the third time in a row, did not express a preference for in-person attendance over virtual.

“I have a job that asks me to travel a lot. So, I don’t know. I mean, I — I’m not gonna quit my job to make $900 a month, $800 a month (the amount the city pays councilmembers), just so I can go in person every day, every week,” Wink said. “It’s just a little bit unrealistic.

“And maybe council should move to a type of thing where people don’t have careers that may ask them, you know, to miss some meetings,” she added. “ ings to consider — I mean, what are we really, what are we winning and what are we losing in what we’re saying here?”

How often do councilmembers attend meetings virtually?

Virtual attendance to city council meetings is allowed but in-person attendance is preferred, according to the City of Englewood City Council Policies manual.

It states, in part, “Electronic participation is intended to be an infrequent or occasional substitution for physical attendance by members of the city