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The Town of Hayden has a new mayor: Lorraine Johnson.

The Town Board approved cancellation of the April 1 election at its meeting Thursday. No one opposed Johnson in her run for mayor, and no one opposed the three men running for open trustee seats: Richard "Festus" Hagins, Bill Hayden and Trace Musgrave. No other ballot issues were up for a vote, so state law allowed the town to cancel the scheduled election.

Johnson has been on the Hayden board for eight years and had reached her term limit. She said she ran for mayor to keep up work on several projects: plans for a new police station, the Poplar Street redesign and creation of a recreation district separate from the town.

A new police station is crucial, she said, and she wants to make sure plans go through in a timely way.

"There's a design for it, but it's not all signed, sealed, delivered," said Johnson, who has lived in Hayden since 1971 and works at Yampa Valley Regional Airport.

Johnson and the new trustees will be sworn in at the April 3 meeting.

Also at Thursday's meeting:

• The board opened a public hearing on the proposed annexation of about 16 acres west of town for Hayden company Precision Excavating. Because owner Dave Zehner was out of town, the board opted to keep that hearing open until its next meeting, April 3. A hearing on the zoning of the land also remains open.

• The board discussed the possibility of giving $250 to $500 to the Vision 2030 group. Hayden resident Tim Frentress is part of the citizens group, which aims to define the future of the Yampa Valley.

• Town Manager Russ Martin spoke about sidewalks the town hopes to add on U.S. Highway 40 between Third and Sixth streets. Rising construction costs are complicating the issue, he said. Martin's summary: "The saga continues."