After more than a year, the Tisbury selectmen finally appointed a new police chief this week, pending an examination of the possibility of Tisbury and Oak Bluffs merging their police departments.

The long hiatus, following the sudden departure of former chief John Cashin on May 22 last year, ended in a flurry of activity on Tuesday this week.

There was a meeting of the boards of selectmen of both towns at 3 p.m. at the Sailing Camp Park on the Lagoon, during which they discussed not only a merger of the police, but also the prospects for amalgamating other town functions, including those of their respective shellfish departments and animal control officers.

Then at a meeting of the Tisbury board later in the afternoon, it was announced that Daniel Hanavan, the long-serving Tisbury patrolman who was elevated to acting chief following Mr. Cashin’s departure, would be made permanent.

Between times, acting Chief Hanavan was briefed about the merger talks, to ensure he was prepared to serve under the circumstances.

The impetus for all the activity was the receipt of a draft report by a consultant, Robert Wasserman, who was engaged by the town to investigate the operations and management of the Tisbury force, and also to examine the costs and benefits of a merged Tisbury and Oak Bluffs force.

That report has not been released, but it is understood it finds the formerly dysfunctional Tisbury police department is working better under Mr. Hanavan’s leadership, and that the prospects of a merger should be further explored.

Mr. Hanavan’s appointment was announced with little fanfare at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, sandwiched in between hearings by the selectmen of the licensing of a number of town restaurants to sell beer and wine.

Selectman Geoghan Coogan formally told Mr. Hanavan he had the job, and would have to negotiate the contract details with town administrator John Bugbee. Fellow selectman Tristan Israel said Mr. Hanavan had done a “great job,” and board chairman Jeff Kristal thanked him for “stepping up when we needed you.”

Then they went back to considering alcohol licenses. The broader issue of the future of the force was not publicly mentioned at either that meeting or the earlier joint meeting.

But yesterday Mr. Coogan confirmed the joint meeting had decided to form a six-member committee to explore the possibilities.

“We were talking broadly about collaborating in various areas: shellfish, animal control, things like that. The police issue came up as a result of Wasserman, who has given us a draft of the report we’ve been waiting for a number of months,” Mr. Coogan said.

“We still don’t have the final report, but we should in a couple of weeks, and he [Wasserman] says it is certainly worthwhile taking a look at it.”

The first step was to determine how the towns could proceed legally, he said.

“We need to explore how legally and procedurally we might get it done. There’s been two towns in Massachusetts that have done it, but they’ve done it in a different way than we might have to do it. There is no clear answer how to do it.

“That’s got to be our first step. Then if we cross that bridge, we look at the issues of actually doing it. For now we’re not looking at who should be the chief, or who should we have on staff, what the budgets should be, or any of that stuff,” he said.

Mr. Coogan also confirmed that the decision to appoint Mr. Hanavan as police chief was not coincidental.

“We’ve been waiting a long time for an indication from Wasserman on his analysis of Dan and the department in general.

“And he was happy with Dan, and we were happy with Dan. We decided it was time to get the interim [acting] label off Dan, if he was willing to do a contract for now, knowing we’re going to explore this other [merger] thing. It was very important he knew this was happening.

“We want all the guys to know he is the chief,” Mr. Coogan said.

The makeup of the committee is yet to be determined. Mr. Coogan said the Tisbury board would consider who its appointees might be at the next board meeting.

“But I can tell you, I will be on it,” he said.

Mr. Kristal later said there would in fact be two committees. He confirmed the board was agreeable to Mr. Coogan being on the one considering the police merger.

The second committee would examine possibilities for cooperation in other areas, like shellfish and animal control. Mr. Israel would be the board’s appointee to that one.

But it is the police committee which faces the more daunting task, because it involves more people and a powerful union. There also are questions about the commitment of the two towns. Oak Bluffs, with its chronic budget problems, is under greater pressure to make the kind of savings a merged force might bring. And if, as expected, the final Wasserman report finds the Tisbury force is working better under Mr. Hanavan, it will reduce the pressure to make more sweeping reforms.

Tuesday’s meeting in Tisbury also finalized the board’s response to another pressing matter relating to its police department, that of finding the money to pay for a new contract with the police union.

In April, a town ballot overwhelmingly rejected a plan to increase taxes to provide for the extra $225,000, due under the terms of the agreement.

And so it will go back to a special town meeting on June 29. But this time, Mr. Coogan explained, it would not go forward as a Proposition 2 1/2 override, necessitating a tax increase.

“The reason we did the Prop 2 1/2 the first time was because we didn’t have $225,000 in free cash, and the easiest way to get it would have been through an override question,” he said.

“But we do have $125,000 in free cash, which covers the costs of the actual three-year contract. And for the other $100,000, to continue that contract into the fourth year . . . we will have to find them in stabilization funds and others.

“It makes us a little strapped for next year, but we think it will be okay,” he said.

The change means that the spending will simply have to be approved by town meeting, but there will be no subsequent townwide ballot, and no tax increase.

The spending will be put forward in two separate articles, for $125,000 and $100,000 respectively.

“We figured we would break them out so everyone knew what they were for,” Mr. Coogan said.