Beer and Wine May Be Sold At Point Pleasant Borough Summerfest

The Point Pleasant Borough Chamber of Commerce wants the Summerfest to have a whole new flavor.

And it tastes like beer.

The chamber and The Passion Group, a private company it's hiring to help run the annual event, told the Borough Council last night that they want to sell beer and wine at the event and they want to move it off Bridge Avenue into Community Park.

Summerfest, which began in 1981, has always been held on Bridge Avenue, from Beaver Dam Road east, nearly to the bridge. That section is closed down by police for the event.

The event offers food, handmade crafts, music and pony and carnival rides for children. It's scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 5.

Council and state approvals are needed for a one-day event permit to sell beer and wine, said Police Chief Larry Williams in an interview after the meeting.

Concerns expressed by council members and residents ranged from how visitors should not be able to roam through the entire park while throwing down brews to whether there would be a limit on how many drinks patrons would be enjoying.

Laura Beeden, a Spruce Street resident known for her local political blog, www.animallovertoo.com, made it clear she doesn't want to see people drunk at the borough's biggest annual event.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with beer and wine," Beeden said. "Other places have done it, as long as it's well supervised. Maybe we should have wrist bands and people have to get them punched twice when they've had two drinks. Have a  limit of only two drinks so people have two instead of 10 and they have to be carried out."

Mike Hollemans, Director of Logistics for The Passion Group, Asbury Park, said trained, certified bartenders would pour the drinks.

"They would refuse to serve customers if they felt they had enough," he said.

When asked after the meeting how that would be enforced it patrons become insistent, he said, "That's why we're going to have police there. If someone insists they want more, and the bartenders feel they shouldn't have it, the police can escort them from the event."

Al Faraldi, a Republican who lost a campaign for a council seat in November, said the chamber should forget about having booze.

"Beer and wine? Point Pleasant doesn't need that," Faraldi said.

After the meeting, Hollemans said it seemed like most of the concerns focused on fencing off a smaller area for the sale and consumption of beer and wine, not so much on the drink limit.

Hollemans told council he had hoped to have the entire park open to visitors buying wine and beer and being able to walk through the park with the drinks.

"We need to have a secure perimeter, and that's the nice thing about the park is that it's fenced in," he said.

However, in response to concerns, Hollemans said he would fence in a smaller area for the sale and consumption of alcohol. He said it would likely be 75 by 75 feet or about 5,600 square feet.

When asked how his company would prevent people from walking out of that area holding beer or wine, he said he could station a police officer there.

Mike said his company would hire four off-duty borough police officers to patrol the event. 

Councilman Bob Sabosik asked Hollemans some questions about insurance coverage that Hollemans couldn't answer, but said he would provide the information at a meeting next month.

After the meeting, Sabosik said, "I would want a policy that names the borough as an additionally-insured party and have umbrella coverage of $5 to $10 million. I would really want $10 million. That's what my company has."

Sabosik owns M.E. Sabosik Associates, a local flooring company on Bridge Avenue.

Sabosik said if Passions doesn't have that kind of coverage for the borough, he would want them to buy a special event policy for the day.

"At least that's my opinion, but I'm only one person on council," he said.

Williams said after the meeting that he needs a lot more information before offering an opinion about whether beer and wine should be served at the event.

"I do think there should be a limited area where it's served, but it would be hard to enforce a drink limit," he said. "The police officers cannot check ID. They cannot be the bouncers because they need to be free to do more important things. We're looking to support the chamber and businesses in town. We just have to meet somewhere where it's a compromise for both groups. We have to worry about the safety and security of the people who are attending."

Hollemans  said as part of his services to the chamber, he would help members prepare a state application for a one-day permit to sell beer and wine at the event. He said his company cannot apply directly because it is not a nonprofit entity.

Frank Scarpone, chamber president, said Summerfest is the chamber's only significant fundraiser, but would not disclose how much the event earns.

"It's not a lot," he said after the meeting.

When Hollemans was asked if profits can be increased without selling wine and beer, he said, "I don't know because it's not an option we've been exploring."

Scarpone said the chamber is partnering with The Passion Group so the company can do a lot of the work previously done by volunteers.

"What we've been doing is taking some of the responsibility off of us," Scarpone said. "I think we can upgrade and make it nicer without putting so much into it with time none of us have, because we're all volunteers."

Eileen McCabe, chamber administrative assistant, said, "It takes time away from the businesses."

Hollemans said, "We're a chamber member, not necessarily an outsider as some might think."

A few residents expressed concern about an outside company, especially one rolling in the booze, possibly changing the family atmosphere of the event or displacing local vendors who have been selling their crafts and goods there for 30 years.

"I expected that reaction. but if you don't go for anything different, then you don't know," Scarpone said.

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