Wiscasset voters will decide the town’s next budget by secret ballot in June 2015, one year after an open town meeting that some residents didn’t want.

The turnout of fewer than 200 voters for last spring’s town meeting was disappointing, Selectman Jeff Slack said Tuesday night in voicing his support for a secret ballot next time.

Board Chairman Pam Dunning said the May 31 town meeting went well, and that many people appreciated having it; but any resident who wants to vote should have the opportunity, Dunning said before voting in favor of a secret ballot.

The vote to go back to the polls in 2015 ran 4-1. The lone dissenter, Selectman Tim Merry, said he still favored a town meeting.

“Everyone knows what they’re voting on,” he said.

When the board voted earlier this year to move to a town meeting, some residents urged the board to reconsider. A town meeting takes away some people’s ability to vote, due to their work schedules or difficulty with sitting for hours, they argued. A secret ballot allows absentee voting that a town meeting doesn’t, secret ballot proponents said.

Before Tuesday night’s vote, Budget Committee member Richard Hanson spoke in favor of a return to the secret ballot.

“I’m very pleased,” he said in an interview following the board’s decision.

“That gives everyone in the town of Wiscasset that wants to vote, the opportunity to vote,” Hanson said.

Policy goes pop

Now that concerns have been addressed about insurance and where bottle collections happen at Wiscasset Transfer Station, selectmen have chosen not to set a policy.

Two of the nonprofits with bins at the station, the Girl Scouts and St. Philip’s Church, have already provided insurance certificates, Town Manager Marian Anderson said. As for the bins’ placement, Anderson said they have been moved outside the station’s work area. However, where they will be long-term is still being worked out, Anderson said.

Parking problem

Morton Street could become a no parking zone. Selectmen plan to decide after hearing from the public at an upcoming meeting. They heard Tuesday night from Morton Street resident Richard Barnard, who cited the trouble he has getting out of his driveway when cars are parked nearby.

Getting around vehicles parked there is very challenging and the street is quite busy, Anderson said. She told the board it can choose to end parking on all or part it, for the safety of Morton Street’s residents and those who travel it.