The town of Southport has bought its swath of Hendricks Head Beach and now comes phase two: Figuring out what to do with the rest of the property.

At the weekly board of selectmen meeting October 16, the first steps were taken to decide what to do with the Ruth Gardner house and property attached to the beach.

A committee of Southport residents and Southport selectmen met briefly in the first meeting to try and come up with a plan for the property.

Selectmen’s Chairman Gerry Gamage said the town has an idea of what it would like to see happen to the property.

“The idea is to come up with any ideas you have for the beach, and the area around the beach,” Gamage said. “Our intention is to split off a major part of the property, add in a driveway and sell it.”

If that plan came to fruition, special attention would be made to the property that borders the parking lot to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

Parking will also need to be addressed, with more spaces added and more enforcement of parking rules near the beach, selectmen said.

A new driveway would need to be added from Salt Pond Road, as the existing property would need to be torn up to accommodate the parking lot and provide some privacy for the property.

The late Ruth Gardner owned the largest section of Hendricks Head Beach and she allowed the public to use the private beach.

The town voted September 18 to purchase the property for $1.25 million. Had the town done nothing, there was a chance a private buyer could have purchased the property and reverted it to a private beach.