Changes in store for annual SummerFest BRICK TOWNSHIP - - One thing's for sure. Jay and the Americans won't be belting out "Come a Little Bit Closer" or anything else at SummerFest this year. Lead singer Jay Black got a little too off-color at last year's event for some people's taste. Councilwoman Ruthanne Scaturro said she heard from many people last year that "he got a little gross." "He will not be coming back," Scaturro said. "We had so many complaints. He got himself into this thing. He kind of pulled an Imus and just kept running with it. People were offended. Some people walked out." Eliminating the group's act is just one of many changes township officials want to see in the annual event. The council awarded a $68,500 contract to Global Producers Services Inc., New Egypt, at the April 10 council meeting. The firm will coordinate the five nights of SummerFest, which starts around the Fourth of July and runs into August. Global Producers replaces LaGuardia and Associates, which had coordinated the events for the past 10 years, when Joseph C. Scarpelli was mayor. "We felt that the shows, although good, were not offering variety to residents," Scaturro said at the meeting. "It's a good time to investigate others to present a variety menu of acts, just mix it up a little bit." Past SummerFests were a little too long on doo-wop for Scaturro's taste. "How many times can you listen to Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge?" she said. "You have to think about all the residents. Scarpelli had a relationship with this guy LaGuardia, who did all the acts. I think he just felt comfortable with him and continued to use him." And unlike past years, the job went out to bid before a contract was awarded. Council President Stephen C. Acropolis said Township Attorney Jean Cipriani told council members that the job had to go out to bid, because of the scope of the event. "We should have been requesting proposals," he said. "The township attorney said you cannot just award a contract." Township officials are also considering fees for some SummerFest services, another change from previous years. Councilwoman Kathy Russell suggested charging nonresidents a dollar or two for the shuttle bus services or for parking at Windward Beach as a way to defray some of the costs. Acropolis said he had asked about that back in 2003. "No one wanted to entertain the notion of charging," he said. "I'm glad to hear, Councilwoman Russell, you are on board with that. We say it year after year, but nothing gets done." While sponsors generally pick up the cost of the acts, the township still has to pay police, public works and the recreation department, Scaturro said after the meeting. "Add that to it, so you can really get a number that exhibits the total cost with overtime," she said. "Last year we didn't raise enough money with sponsorships. And if they (employees) are doing things for SummerFest other than the things they would normally be doing, it's free, but it's not free. Brick Township residents are paying for it one way or another." Officials want to make sure that more Brick residents are able to attend SummerFest. "Sixty percent of the people that go are not from Brick Township," Acropolis said. "That's a problem. Some residents won't go. It's too crowded." SummerFest consisted of nine shows a season during most of the Scarpelli years. But the GOP-dominated council elected in 2003 decided the event wasn't as free as it was billed and trimmed the number of shows to five. The two fireworks shows will remain intact, Acropolis said. Russell said out-of-town visitors could be a plus because they would tend to use local businesses like gas stations and convenience stores while they were in town. "I don't look at people from out of town being a negative," she said. So just what did Black say last summer? "Evidently it was quite a doozie," said Township Clerk Virginia Lampman, who attends SummerFest regularly. "I wasn't there. Even Scarpelli said he wouldn't be back. Apparently everybody knows except me." - Patricia A. Miller