Park City

(Park Record) After this year, The Colby School will be no more.

The board of The Park City Day School has decided it cannot justify spending $400,000 a year to maintain a campus at 3770 State Route 224, said Head of School Charles Sachs in an interview Thursday.

"It was not an educational and not a philosophical decision, but a financial decision," he said.

The choice was difficult emotionally, said Board Chair Kristi Cumming in a press release.

(Park Record) Things are looking up for Realtors.

During the first quarter of 2010, Realtors sold nearly twice as many properties worth more than double the dollar volume from the first quarter of 2009.

It wasn't hard to surpass the dismal figures from early 2009, but selling 325 units worth $303 million would have been a respectable quarter not too many years ago. These increases were true for all property types, according to the First Quarter Report from the Park City Board of Realtors.

(Park Record) Mayor Dana Williams and the Park City Council have commemorated the Fair Housing Act, 1968 legislation that guarantees rights of minorities in homes sales and rentals.

The elected officials recently proclaimed April as Fair Housing Month in Park City, revisiting similar declarations from City Hall in previous years. The 2010 proclamation notes the act is 42 years old. It says "we must, as individuals and as people, take our stand to provide equity for all, including equal opportunity in housing a reality in our community."

(Park Record) Mayor Dana Williams and Park City Councilwoman Liza Simpson -- a onetime high-ranking homeseller and a store manager on Main Street -- were tapped Thursday night to lead City Hall's upcoming Treasure negotiations with the Sweeney family, pivotal assignments that thrust the two into what will be closely watched talks with, potentially, tens of millions of dollars at stake.

(Park Record) Owners of Park City units in nightly rental pools are under closer scrutiny this year, but it's for their own benefit, explained a report by Chief Building Official Ron Ivie to Mayor Dana Williams and the Park City Council this week.

Prior to Dec. 29, 2009, only property managers were listed on the business licenses for nightly rental units. The past year has seen hundreds of Park City condo owners change property managers, thereby requiring a new business license and building inspection.

(Park Record) When the recession began changing American commerce and lifestyles in fall 2008, people were hoping to find the bottom. Most economic experts agree Utah and the nation are now there, but it's nothing to celebrate.

The March report from the Utah Department of Workforce Services' senior economist Mark Knold said the state's unemployment rate is now 7.1 percent. In February, there were 2.3 percent (or 27,700) fewer jobs than the year before.

For the first time in several months, Summit County's rate is less than the state average at 7 percent.

(Park Record) The Park City Police Department in 2009 received, on average, nearly two complaints of fraudulent activity each week, only a slight increase from the year before but a figure that illustrates the continuing misery wrought by the recession.

(Park Record) Go on in all Utah Realtors are encouraged to hold open houses this Saturday.

When the federal home-buyer tax credit was about to expire last November, there was a spike in real estate sales nationwide. On April 30, the extension will expire so the National Association of Realtors is promoting a day of open houses on April 10.

(Park Record) An overhaul of one of the busiest roads in Summit Park is scheduled to begin in June.

"We have a major reconstruction that we're planning on a portion of Parkview Drive in Summit Park," Summit County Engineer Derrick Radke said.

With a budget of about $350,000, the road repairs will reconstruct about 1,800 feet of Parkview Drive between Parkview Terrace and Aspen Drive.

(Park Record) At the height of the building boom, the Jack Johnson Company employed 135 people in six offices across the country. Clients spanned the globe and the brand was recognized in development circles.

Another victim of the recession, it is now "winding down," explained founder Jack Johnson on Monday.

When building stopped in 2009, the company fell out of favor with its bank. After intense negotiations, the people who held the purse strings eventually turned them down ending a 35-year run.

(Park Record) Brigitte and Mac Macaalay have been married for 27 years, leaving their homeland of the Philippines about a decade ago for the United States.

The wife, 50 years old and a jewelry salesperson at Walmart, and the husband, who is 56 years old and a bellman at the Deer Valley Club, have rented in the Park City area for a decade. They have never owned a place.

(Park Record) According to Ski Area Management Magazine, Brian Head is for sale for $34.75 million. The March 26 article quoted CB Richard Ellis' Land Services Group saying the resort averages 141,000 skier visits and total revenue from ski operations averaged more than $6.8 million over the past three years. "The listing includes a 1,744-acre entitled, mater-planned community, which includes 618 acre feet of associated water rights, plans for up to 1,350 residential units, 500 acres of additional skiing and golf.

(Park Record) Park City's construction industry through the first two months of 2010 posted just less than $1.3 million of work, a figure that is well off the pace of the previous year.

It has been rare in the past decade that a two-month tally is as low as the approximately $1.3 million that was posted between January and February. Although January and February are typically slow months in Park City's construction industry, the 2010 total thus far could be worrisome to City Hall and the industry. Through the same period last year, the total was $30.6 million.

(Park Record) In an affidavit filed at City Hall recently, Mayor Dana Williams indicated he remains a licensed real estate agent nearly two years after he stepped down from a high-level position in the industry.

The affidavit lists potential conflicts of interest and is required annually of Williams and the members of the Park City Council. The mayor's did not provide details about his role in the real estate industry. He said in an interview, though, his name is listed in a network of real estate agents.