At a brief meeting Friday night, the Tisbury select board voted to begin negotiating with police chief Mark Saloio on the renewal of his contract.

Chief Saloio’s first contract, which runs for three years and expires in November, includes an automatic renewal clause if the town does not act by May 3 to continue negotiations for up to six months, town attorney Brian Maser told the board.

“The only other alternative is for the board not to renew [the contract] this evening,” Mr. Maser said.

The board voted unanimously in favor of extending negotiations with Chief Saloio, who took over the department in 2018.

According to the contract, which was provided to the Gazette Monday by the town human resources coordinator, the town and the chief are expected to agree on terms for a new contract by June 30. The contract also stipulates that if the chief receives a satisfactory performance evaluation after his first year that is accepted by the selectmen, the contract will automatically renew for two years and run until November 2023.

The HR coordinator did not immediately provide further information about Chief Saloio’s performance evaluation.

At the start of his contract, the chief’s annual salary was set at $155,000 plus benefits, with provisions for cost of living increases that align with increases set by the town for employees.

Prior to Friday’s 10-minute meeting, also called to meet the statutory deadline for approving town meeting warrants, the town finance and advisory committee approved a late-filed article requested by Tisbury fire chief Greg Leland. The article asks voters to back proposed legislation that would allow firefighters to continue serving in modified capacities after the age of 65, which currently triggers mandatory retirement.

The board unanimously approved adding the article to the special town meeting warrant, along with the $55 million Proposition 2 1/2 override for the Tisbury School building project.

The annual town meeting is set for June 12 and the special town meeting for June 13, outdoors at the school. The town election is June 22.

Updated to include information from the police chief contract.