ARLINGTON — The Arlington City Council will be interviewing candidates for the seat left vacant by Council member Scott Solla’s passing.

The City Council will conduct a special meeting at its chambers, located at 110 E. Third St., starting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

The city of Arlington has calculated its 90-day window to select a new Council member to serve out Solla’s term retroactive from Sept. 3 of this year, which would give the Council a deadline of Dec. 1 to appoint Solla’s successor.

Prospective candidates for Solla’s Council seat were given a deadline of Nov. 10 to apply for the position, so that the current Council members could review the applications during their Nov. 14 workshop meeting. Interviews of the candidates will be conducted during the open public meeting on Nov. 16.

From there, the Council will review the candidates during an executive session on Nov. 28, before deciding which candidate to select as Solla’s successor during an open session either that same evening or on Nov. 29.

“Nov. 28 would normally be the Council’s workshop meeting, so they’ll convene a special meeting for their decision that will be open to the public,” Arlington Assistant City Administrator Kristin Banfield said.

Arlington City Attorney Steve Peiffle emphasized that the Arlington City Council must select a new Council member within the 90-day window, or else the right to appoint that City Council member will cede over to the Snohomish County Council.

“We needed to schedule around the Nov. 8 general election and the Thanksgiving holiday,” Peiffle said. “Whoever is selected to fill this vacancy would serve out the remainder of the term, through the fall of 2013.”