Elksfest Permit Decision Pushed Back By Point Beach Council

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ – After an at-times contentious discussion that included insults and accusations of politicking on the dais, there was still no decision regarding the permit application by the Point Pleasant Elks to hold their annual Elksfest on the same day as the borough’s seafood festival.

Instead, the decision was made to hold a meeting between the chief of police, the council’s police and emergency management committee, the chamber of commerce, and the Elks after a motion made by councilman Bob Santanello.

The Elksfest was held in neighboring Point Pleasant in 2018 and 2019 after the council denied the organization’s request to hold their event on the same day as the seafood festival to draw as many people as possible to what they say their biggest fundraiser of the year.

Mayor Paul Kanitra pointed out that the application for this year was recommended to be denied again by borough police chief Joseph Michigan due to a concern about having enough police to handle the expected crowds. Still, the application put in by the borough’s chamber of commerce for a wine garden raised no such concern, which he felt was hypocritical.

Noticing that, the decision was made to add the approval of the wine garden to the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting.

“I asked for the wine garden to be added to the agenda tonight so that when we vote, we will be forced to be hypocrites or not,” Kanitra said, noting that voting for one and not the other would show that you would have conflicting interests.

“I think we should vote to approve both of these events,” he added, stating that the council shouldn’t let “the fear of the unknown” guide their decisions.

Chief Michigan spoke after the mayor about how that this application has become political, but that can’t factor into his decision-making regarding approving events.

“I must put the safety of the residents first and consider the resources and manpower before committing to any proposal,” Chief Michigan said.

“I, therefore, must make the best decision for the town and deny the application.”

Council president Arlene Testa disagreed with the police chief’s sentiment, saying that she feels that the town can handle both events on the same day.

“To think that we can’t handle the Elks the same day as the seafood festival, I find that hard to believe,” Testa said.