CANTON — The Canton Town Council has decided not to appoint a replacement for Councilman Clark H. Carvel.

After receiving letters of interest from seven people seeking the appointment, Town Supervisor David T. Button said board members agreed to wait until the Nov. 6 election to fill the seat.

The appointment would have expired Dec. 31.

“The appointment only would have been for six months,” Mr. Button said Thursday. “We decided to let the democratic process play out and not give the advantage to any one person. We decided to let the people in the community decide.”

Mr. Button said board members were surprised at the number of town residents interested in the appointment, both Republicans and Democrats.

Some indicated in their letters that they planned to run in the November election regardless of whether they received the board’s temporary appointment. No applicants were interviewed.

The supervisor said he is notifying all of the interested candidates and encouraging them to run for office.

If more than one Republican wants the seat, the nominee will be selected by voters in a Sept. 13 primary. The dates for submitting GOP nominating petitions are July 9-12.

Nominating petitions for those seeking the Independent line must be submitted from Aug. 14-21.

Candidates on the Democratic line would be selected in a party caucus.

“We were surprised at the number and quality of folks who applied,” Mr. Button said. “We had some folks who have never been in political life before and some people who have been around for awhile and were looking for a new challenge.”

Initially, council members wanted to fill the seat so they would have a full five-member board to handle coming decisions.

Councilman James T. Smith said it would have been difficult for the board to pick from the list of residents who expressed interest in the seat.

“They’re all excellent candidates for the position,” Mr. Smith. “It’s nice to have the extra person sitting at the table, but under these circumstances it makes sense to wait until the election.”

After serving 12 years on the Town Council, Mr. Carvel resigned June 22 because he moved to the Albany area. His four-year term was not due to expire until Dec. 31, 2015. Members of the town board are paid $4,545 a year.

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