Town Meeting Monday gave the Buzzards Bay Coalition $400,000 in Community Preservation funds to go forward with the environmental group's planned purchase, restoration and preservation of Wickets Island.

Coalition President Mark Rasmussen called the island the “jewel of Onset Bay, and a defining feature of Onset Village.”

“Year after year, it seems threatened with another real estate development attempt,” Rasmussen said. “If privately developed, it would remain off-limits to all of us, as it is today.”

Rasmussen said the 4.6-acre island would be purchased for $525,000, with the remaining $125,000 being supplied by outside grants and funding.

He said it would become the centerpiece of a larger Onset project which is planned to include the purchase of open space on Burgess Point (across Onset Bay from Onset Village) and the establishment of an Onset-based environmental education center.

Selectman Peter Teitelbaum supported the island purchase, saying that he understood some of the opposition.

“People hear six-figure purchases, and they get a little nervous,” Teitelbaum said. But, he said, “the town would still be able to make money down the road, by way of the bathhouse.”

The bathhouse on Onset Beach has largely fallen into disrepair. Part of it is rented to Nemasket Kayak during summer months as a base for kayak rentals. A full-scale renovation of the structure might become part of a larger Onset waterfront project.

Selectman Alan Slavin said he saw the island purchase as “a long-term economic development project.”

On Wickets Island, the Coalition's plans are "removal of unsafe, old building foundations and invasive vines covering the top of the island, restoration of forest trees and native vegetation, improvements to walking trails . . . and making the island a destination for outdoor exploration and environmental education programs for everyone."

School Committee member and Wareham resident Cliff Sylvia spoke in favor of the purchase. He addressed concerns that the island would only be accessible by people with boats.

“You can canoe, you can kayak – if you are a really healthy swimmer, you can swim out there,” Sylvia joked. “This is an absolutely invaluable resource for our children, and our children’s children.”

Community Preservation funds come from a surtax on properties valued at more than $100,000 and a state contribution. By law, the money must be used for open space preservation, affordable housing or historic preservation.