MANCHESTER – Residents favored the smaller of two park proposals for the former site of the old fire station by 25 votes.

“Option B,” a park with a footprint of about 7,200 square feet, received 242 votes in a secret ballot referendum Tuesday, topping the 217 votes for “Option A,” a 15,300-square-foot park footprint.

The vote was just to determine the size of the park — the actual design for the park has not yet been finalized.

Building the larger of the two parks was estimated to cost up to $30,000, while the smaller park is expected to cost about $13,000 to develop, according to town officials.

A question on the warrant of the annual town meeting asks voters to move $23,000 from the undesignated fund balance account, money Manchester collected from renting the former fire station to the town of Readfield, into a reserve fund to build a park where the fire station, since torn down, once stood. That amount is expected to be sufficient to build the basic layout of the smaller park favored by voters Tuesday. The annual town meeting is Thursday, at 6:30 p.m. at Manchester Elementary School.

A warrant article seeking an additional $12,000 towards the park project will thus not be necessary.

Martha Nielsen, with 433 votes, and Jeremy Pare, with 417 votes, were reelected to the Board of Selectmen, in uncontested elections.

Manchester voters approved the Regional School Unit 38 budget in the validation referendum, 385 to 125.

All vote results are unofficial.