The Tisbury selectmen unanimously agreed to hire two new full time police officers in the coming months, but clashed over the policies and process of hiring them at their regular Tuesday meeting.

Police chief Dan Hanavan said the department is considered fully staffed at 14 full time officers, but has been operating with only 11, and filling shifts with overtime and special officers.

On the recommendation of Chief Hanavan, selectmen plan to hire one officer in the next few weeks, and send one of the department’s special officers to a police academy this winter, with the intention of hiring the officer full time once the new fiscal year begins on July 1, 2018.

Selectman Tristan Israel criticized the process of hiring, and said a broader evaluation of the police department should be considered.

“We should be more organized,” Mr. Israel said. “We should be more scientific. I’m disappointed.”

Also Tuesday evening, selectmen began a discussion about selling a town-owned parking lot on the downtown site of the old fire station.

The town takes in approximately $20,000 in revenue from leasing reserved parking spaces in the lot, but loses approximately $7,000 because the town-owned property is not taxed, according to financial advisory board chairman Jeff Kristal, who floated the proposal. The one-third acre lot is assessed at $802,500.

“I like the idea,” said chairman Larry Gomez. “I think we could get $1.5 million for it.”

The board took no action, but agreed to research the proposal.

In other action, the selectmen voted to approve the recommendation of town treasurer John Snyder, to set the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for town employees not covered by union contracts at 2.3 per cent. The recommendation was based on the consumer price index set by the federal government for a region of eastern Massachusetts and New Hampshire.