SUNDERLAND — Police Chief Erik Demetropoulos will be sticking around for the next three years, as the Selectboard has unanimously approved a new contract.

The board gave its approval for the contract, which will see Demetropoulos earn $107,080 beginning July 1, on Monday after a final round of negotiations with the longtime chief.

Town Administrator Becky Torres noted this contract represents a “significant increase” for Demetropoulos, whose salary line item in the fiscal year 2025 budget was $88,122. Selectboard Chair Nathaniel Waring explained Thursday that the increase was to bring Sunderland’s police chief wage in line with other towns in the area.

“That’s sort of what the market value is,” Waring said, adding that the town’s goal was to retain Demetropoulos. “We are very happy with Erik in terms of his leadership in the department. … He’s a good chief. We like him and we want to keep him.”

While the majority of the new contract mirrors previous ones, the town added a residency requirement of 20 miles — anything more than that would require approval from the Selectboard — to ensure Demetropoulos or a future police chief would be able to respond to an emergency in a reasonable time frame.

The town also continued a new practice it is inserting into all department head positions that shifts the cost-of-living adjustments from 3.5% or 4% down to 2.5%, which is what all other town employees who are not department heads receive.

“We appreciate your service,” Waring said to Demetropoulos during Monday’s meeting, “and we’re glad to have you here for another three years.”

Demetropoulos has served as Sunderland’s police chief since 2016. Prior to that, he had a nine-year stint as Barre’s police chief.

“I’m just happy I get to spend three more years in the town I call home,” Demetropoulos said.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.