Scores of residents flocked to the Secaucus Town Council meeting Feb. 10 to hear which of three nominated candidates would be appointed to fill the recently resigned council seat of Richard Kane.

They’re going to have to wait a few more weeks.

“Undecided” was the theme of the night as an ordinance to expand the number of taxicab licenses in town was also punted after objections were raised by two cab companies, and the council said it is moving toward televising its meetings but wants to get more public comment and is looking into issuing a request for qualifications for the logistics of actually getting their meetings on video.

Frustration with the ongoing legal drama concerning Councilman Mike Gonnelli was also palpable from the 70 or so (our rough estimate) residents at Town Hall last night.

On the Kane appointment, Mayor Dennis Elwell said council members want to interview the three candidates chosen by the Secaucus Democratic Committee, despite that group’s recommendation that Dawn McAdam be chosen because the council lacks a female member.

Kane resigned last Sunday citing the long commute to a new job in Connecticut. If the council can’t get to a majority vote by March 2 (30 days from his resignation), then Elwell said the municipal committee will appoint a council member.

Asked during the public comment period how the Democratic Committee came up with the three candidates, Elwell said the 28 members took nominations and voted. Three candidates are the minimum number of nominations to fill a vacant seat and members were asked if there were any more nominations, the mayor said. There were no more.

The resident who inquired about the nominations said the trio “look like three that dislike [councilman] Gonnelli the most.”

We apologize for not getting the resident’s name (Troy maybe?) but the PA system in the town hall is terrible. He did have a nice quip when the mayor said the inside-politics discussion was “not town business.” The resident volleyed: “It’s monkey business.”

Meeting By The Numbers

$716,000 a year – operating cost of the new Rec Center without factoring debt service. Resident-Mayoral candidate-attorney Pete Weiner asked about the final costs and the mayor said those numbers can’t be provided yet. It sounds like it will be in the $11M range, though.

$33,000 a year – annual amount the town gets for the billboard on Kane Stadium. The council said the town is looking at placing a billboard and cell tower on Route 3 to generate revenue.

$1,500 – cost of a new license to operate a taxi service in town. Two cab company owners spoke at the meeting to object to Ordinance No. 2009-2, amending the town code to add two more taxi licenses, which would result in eight companies operating in Secaucus. The council, which, in our opinion, seemed a little surprised by the opposition, moved to table the ordinance. The owners argued that increasing competition in a tough economic climate would harm their businesses. The council had not previously discussed the ordinance with the owners present at the meeting.

54 – number of police officers in town, estimated by Deputy Mayor John Reilly, who said that is probably a few less than in recent years. Two residents seemed concerned about crime in town and council members pointed out that tough economics usually spur crime rates. Mayor Elwell suggested a neighborhood watch program should be revitalized.