A Connecticut town planner has signed a two-year contract to serve as the new executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.

Under the terms of an employment agreement approved by the commission last week, new director Adam Turner will earn an annual salary of $107,454 starting August 1.

Current executive director Mark London plans to retire at the end of August after 12 years on the job. Mr. Turner was selected in April to replace Mr. London after a three-month search, during which the MVC screened 33 applications and interviewed nine candidates.

The MVC voted unanimously to approve the contract at their regular meeting last Thursday.

“Everybody is very excited that he has accepted it,” commission vice chairman Jim Vercruysse said by phone Monday.

“It was a really exciting process,” Mr. Vercruysse said. “We had a lot of very good applicants.”

In his current post, Mr. Turner is town planner for Colchester, Conn., a position he has held since 2007. A former senior policy advisor in the Northern Mariana Islands governor’s office, he holds a master’s degree in urban planning and has worked as a planner in the public and private sectors.

The contract gives him room to tie up loose ends at his current job, where he is working on a multi-year restoration project at the Salmon River.

“Until its completion, he asked that he would be able to work on it as a consultant,” Mr. Vercruysse said.

According to the agreement, his work on the dam removal and restoration project will end in October. “All such work shall be performed . . . on his personal time and shall be performed so as not to interfere with his duties and responsibilities under this agreement,” the contract states.

Under the contract, the MVC has also agreed to contribute $50 towards Mr. Turner’s monthly phone bill and to allow him 15 days of paid vacation plus state holidays and sick time. The commission will also pay Mr. Turner $10,000 in relocation costs for the move from Old Saybrook, Conn., to the Vineyard. He plans to enroll his young daughters in school here, Mr. Vercruysse said.

Mr. London, who has 40 years of experience in the field, earns $130,000 annually. Mr. Vercruysse said Mr. Turner’s salary was in line with the MVC hiring policy.

According to the contract, the MVC executive committee will conduct a performance and salary review each year.