Lake met with the village trustees in executive session for more than an hour on Jan. 2.
According to the official notes from the open session of that meeting, Lake told the trustees that he would recommend being hired as a "working chief," and the village would not have to replace him on the force.
Lake was hired by former interim Bellows Falls Police Chief John Dunfee and has been serving as an officer on the BFPD.
The announcement of Lake's impending appointment comes as the village is considering shutting down the police department and contracting with the Windham County Sheriff's Department to take over law enforcement in Bellows Falls.
The budget for the Bellows Falls department this year is approaching $1 million. Windham County Sheriff Keith Clark said his department could enforce law in the village for $650,000 and the trustees are considering that option.
Lake told the trustees on Jan. 2 that he would be losing his job if the Sheriff's Department took over anyway,
and he said he would be willing to serve as chief, even if it were only for a limited time.Lake said at the Jan. 2 meeting that he "feels that he could make an impact on this community as chief and feels he can do some good in the next six months," the notes of the meeting read.
Lake could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
At the regular Bellows Falls trustee meeting Tuesday, president Clark Barber confirmed that the board members have been meeting with Lake.
In late December, Municipal Manager Jim Mullen said he was considering three candidates after going through 56 applications.
One of the other top candidates told the board that he would not consider the position for six months and pulled out of the race, a source close to the negotiations told the Reformer.
Barber said Tuesday that there was only one candidate at this time being considered.
By statute, it is Mullen's decision to hire the new chief, but he has been working with the trustees to get their input on the decision. The trustees met with Mullen in executive session Tuesday to discuss the police chief position.
Lake was at the center of a 2005 investigation into the Sheriff's Department concerning improper training of new recruits while Sheila Prue was sheriff.
Prue pleaded guilty to embezzlement in June 2006 and resigned. Lake was not retained by the sheriff's department after Clark, the former chief of the Bellows Falls department, was elected sheriff last year.
The BFPD has been without a full-time chief for more than a year since Clark left.
The trustees offered the open position to Russell O'Dell, a former chief from Cornwall, N.Y., in September, but O'Dell turned down the position after telling the municipal manager that he was concerned about the department's budget as well as the perception that officers were feeding information to the media.
The village reopened the search and Lake appears to be the frontrunner to lead the department.
Mullen said Tuesday that he expects to make a decision within the next few weeks.