The Standish Town Council has approved a management plan and two lease agreements that collectively impose a cap of 400 people and 75 boats on the sandbar beach located on the western shore of Sebago Lake.

The council voted Aug. 11, 7-0, to approve the agreement and the two leases, marking a major breakthrough in the effort to open a public beach in Standish, according to Councilor Steve Nesbitt, the chairman of the town’s beach committee.

“This was a major hurdle for us,” Nesbitt said. “We’re really pleased to have this move forward. We’ve put a lot of work and effort to get to this point. It brings us one step closer to getting Standish a beach.”

If the agreements are approved by the Portland Water District next month, the town of Standish will lease the beach from the water district for 25 years at a rate of $100 per year, with an option to renew the agreement for another 25 years. The shoreline will be divided between a cordoned-off swimming area and an area for 75 boats affiliated with the Sebago Boating Club.

A maximum of 200 members from the boating club will be allowed on the beach at any one time, while 400 people in total will be allowed on the beach at any time. All beach users will be required to obtain a season sticker, either through the town or the boating club, depending on their preferred means of entry to the sandbar beach. The draft agreements do not yet specify the sticker prices.

On Sept. 4, the Portland Water District Board of Trustees is scheduled to vote on whether to approve a beach lease agreement with the town, as well as a Beach Management Plan. According to Bill Lunt, a longtime member of the district’s board of trustees and the liaison between the town and the district, the district had hoped to vote on the agreements this month, but was forced to wait as the beach committee finalized minor aspects of the agreements, and the council voted on them.

“It’s our land so we have the final word,” Lunt said. “That’s why it’s up to them to get their end of it OK’d first.”

Under the arrangement, Standish, the water district, and the boating club would have a three-way lease in which the town pays $500 a year to lease the beach, which the boating club maintains. Standish boaters are allowed to use the beach for free, while non-Standish residents pay $100 fee to join the club, which allows them access to the beach. While a maximum of 100 boats are allowed at the beach, there is no maximum head count in place.

Under the draft beach management plan, the town of Standish will be responsible for E. coli bacteria testing every Saturday and Sunday around noon at three different locations. If any of the tests are higher than the EPA-recommended safe swimming beach level of 235 coliform forming units per 100 milliliters, the town will immediately close the beach and re-test the water.

The town plans to enlist the Pentagon’s Innovative Readiness Training labor assistance program in beach infrastructure construction efforts, including a boardwalk through wetlands connecting the beach and a new parking lot. According to Town Manager Gordon Billington, officials with the Pentagon program, which uses the National Guard and other military to provide labor, have indicated they are willing to assist the town with heavy equipment operators, project managers and truck drivers, although nothing has been formalized yet.

Even if the district approves the lease and the beach agreement next month, there are more hurdles to come. Town officials hope to complete the project by either the summer of 2016 or 2017, according to Nesbitt.

“Once these agreements are passed, the boat club still has to move forward an operational budget through the Town Council and set a fee schedule,” Nesbitt said. “We have to finish acquiring the access land that we need to access the Portland Water District property, and then Mr. Billington mentioned the National Guard possibly helping out, and we’re looking into that as well. But we’re moving forward with all those fronts. We’re hoping to start construction by next spring.”

The sandbar beach was re-named the John Rich Jr. Memorial Beach in March 2014 and is separated from the mainland by wetlands. On Tuesday, Council Chairwoman Lynn Olson said she looked forward to opening the beach to the public.

“We’re going to have to plan a heck of a ribbon cutting to open it up,” she said.