In their first official gathering following last week’s annual town meeting, Chilmark selectmen approved a list of finalists for a new chief of police and approved two new restaurant licenses in the town.

And, in a board reshuffle, J.B. Riggs Parker was accepted as chairman, then promptly announced his retirement.

“Can I have my chair now ?” Mr. Parker asked outgoing chairman Frank Fenner, who vacated the center seat for Mr. Parker. “This will be my last year. I want to give plenty of time for young people of the town to step forward. My colleagues are young and hale . . .” he said.

“I just qualified for Medicare,” objected selectman Warren Doty.

“I’m talking about kids in their 50s and 60s,” Mr. Parker qualified. “They should think about taking this job on, and to do it right takes some preparation.”

As the first order of business the board held public hearings on two Chilmark restaurants scheduled to reopen under new ownership this summer: The Home Port in Menemsha and the Chilmark Tavern

The Chilmark Tavern will be run by Paul O’Connell, a chef who also runs a restaurant in Cambridge.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Mr. O’Connell said the seasonal restaurant will be open for dinner but the plan is to make the space available for events.

“We want to fully participate in the community in anyway we can,” he said, adding that menu and pricing have been devised with an eye to the economy. “It’s not diner prices, but they’re not going to be super high, out of sight, $45 entrees. We want families early and couples on dates.”

Mr. O’Connell is leasing the building from Frank and Judy LoRusso.

The Chilmark Tavern is located next to the Chilmark Store, in the building which previously housed the Cornerway restaurant and has been through several owners over the past decade. Under the name Chilmark Tavern, a restaurant and dance hall operated on the property for several decades, starting in the 1950s. It was run by Bette F. Carroll, who also attended the meeting.

Mr. O’Connell said he hopes to open by June.

Home Port manager David Zeilinger represented new owners Robert and Susan Nixon at the meeting to finalize an agreement which secures a victualer’s license for the restaurant.

Apologizing on behalf of the Nixons, Mr. Zeilinger said they were not able to attend the meeting. The owners plan to open doors Memorial Day.

Mr. Parker revisited two long-running concerns of his regarding the Home Port and the Nixon purchase: parking issues and the septic tank.

Stating that part of the restaurant’s septic tank is located on town property, Mr. Parker proposed an amendment to indemnify the town in the event of any issues concerning the tank.

Citing Menemsha’s parking issues, he also argued that the employees should be required to car pool rather than simply encouraged, as in the draft agreement.

Both amendments were agreed to by Mr. Zeilinger and approved by the board.

Mr. Doty inquired about the possibility of using water access on the property as town access points for kayaks and canoes, and he asked if discarded shells could be removed from the area.

“We’ve talked to the Nixons about using the two small lots for canoe and kayaks,” Mr. Doty said. “It would be a very nice bonus for the town, but there are a lot of clam shells down there. We don’t want people to cut their feet on the sand.”

Mr. Zeilinger suggested the selectmen take the request directly to the Nixons.

“I’m handling restaurant matters,” he said. “You’d do a much better job.”

Executive secretary Tim Carroll said yesterday the request also would go to the conservation commission for approval.

In other business, Mr. Parker announced three finalists for the position of Chilmark police chief, which will be vacated by chief Timothy Rich when he retires next month.

The three finalists are: West Tisbury sergeant Daniel Rossi, Chilmark patrolman Brian Cioffi and sergeant Michael Miksch of Carver. The three will be interviewed in a public session with the board on Friday, May 15, beginning at 3 p.m. in the selectmen’s meeting room.

The finalists were culled from 18 initial applicants. Six were chosen based on the individual recommendations of board members, then interviewed by Mr. Parker.

“I want to tell you how tough this was; they were all solid applications. We had people who were recently in Iraq, a policeman from Maine, lots of Mass police. I can’t tell you how impressed I was,” he said. “We will be able to look forward with pride to one of these applicants being our chief.”