Voters in a Massachusetts town have narrowly rejected a proposal to spend $100,000 on a shark barrier at a beach where children take swimming lessons.

The Cape Cod Times reports that Chatham town meeting voters on Tuesday rejected the article 113-112.

Selectman Jeffrey Dykens made the proposal. The money would have paid for a feasibility study, and if determined advisable, construction of the barrier at Oyster Pond.

Dykens said he wanted to ensure one beach in town was shark free.

Seth Taylor called the proposal "silly," noting it would be difficult for a large shark to swim up the inlet to the tidal salt pond.

There have been increased great white shark sightings around Cape Cod in recent years. A 26-year-old man was killed by a shark in Wellfleet last September.