Selectmen will attempt to end a decade-long debate on a disputed parcel of land on Swifts Beach at Fall Town Meeting in October.

On Tuesday, Selectmen passed a number of measures that will go before voters. One will ask voters to "permanently restrict "for beach and recreational use" the 5.3 acre property located off of Swifts Beach Road and Wankinco Avenue in Swifts Beach.

In 2003, Town Meeting gave Selectmen permission to acquire the land for "general municipal purposes." The previous owner of the parcel had expressed interest in building a two-family home on the property. Selectmen at the time expressed the desire to expand access to the public beach that is adjacent to the land.

Many groups in town have unsuccessfully tried to place a conservation restriction on the land over the years. In recent months, the Swifts Beach Improvement Association has taken up the cause.

Selectmen see this rededication from "general municipal purposes" to "beach and recreational use in perpetuity" as a way to preserve the land and put an end to the controversy.

Selectmen also put a number of Community Preservation Fund projects on the agenda for Town Meeting. They include:

- Allocating $98,000 in Community Preservation funds to the Wareham Historical Society to restore the Old Methodist Meeting House at 495 Main St.

-Spending $75,000 in Community Preservation funds for rehabilitation of existing playgrounds that have been identified as being the most critical by the Recreation Assessment Report.

-$70,000 in Community Preservation funds to the Wareham Housing Authority to create one additional housing unit at Agawam Village at 57 Sandwich Road.

-$158,000 in Community Preservation funds for the Wareham Land Trust to purchase two parcels of land totaling about 7.7 acres in the center corridor of the Tweedy and Barnes preserve off of Blackmore Pond Road in West Wareham.

The state Community Preservation Act was adopted by Wareham voters in April 2002. A 3 percent surcharge is levied on residential property above the first $100,000 of assessed property.The state partially matches the locally-raised funds.

The total raised in fiscal year 2013 was $791,391.

The money must be used for historic preservation, affordable housing, or preservation of open space or recreation facilities.