With a municipal election around the corner in April, Silverthorne will have a vacant seat on its Town Council after Jan. 12 until the election.

Council member Tanya Shattuck moved to South Dakota and can no longer serve on Town Council. And in an effort to avoid favoring any potential candidate, the seat will remain open until the election. Shattuck’s last meeting as a council member will be Jan. 12, and it will be held virtually.

Town Attorney Karl Hanlon explained at a special council meeting Wednesday, Jan. 5, that should the council declare a vacancy now and seek to fill it, it would need to be filled by someone running in the next election.

Council members didn’t want it to look like they endorsed any one candidate by appointing them to the council and agreed it would be best to keep the seat open until the election.

Silverthorne Town Council will have the mayoral seat as well as four council seats up for election in April. The candidate elected to the council with the lowest number of votes will serve a two-year term to finish Shattuck’s term.