SNOW REPORT FROM DMR!!! If you haven't heard, Purgatory is about to get a ton of snow! The forecast is calling for 19-33 inches before the weekend is done. We are anxiously awaiting the storm and will determine opening day based on the accumulation today and tomorrow. If the snow piles up, as it is predicted to, we are hoping to get the lifts turning on Sunday, December 2nd with the 15th annual Benefit Day. Please keep checking our website or call our Snow Report at 970-247-9000 ext 1 for daily updates. The storm is moving into the area right now and light snowflakes have begun to fall at the resort. Today we are expecting 3-5 inches of accumulation. The bulk of the storm is expected to land tonight and tomorrow with 10-15 inches possible tonight and another 6-12 inches predicted through Saturday night. There is also a slight chance of snow on Sunday. Keep doing your snow dance and watch the accumulation pile up!

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BUILT GREEN: The Durango area's biggest development received one of Colorado's top honors recently.

Tierra Vision Homes was presented with the "Built Green Builder of the Year" award at the annual Home Builders Meeting in Denver for its work at the Three Springs Development. Tierra Vision Homes is a subsidiary of the Tierra Group, a Southern Ute company, which is behind the 2000-plus unit development east of Durango in Grandview.

When complete, Three Springs will be comprised of five neighborhoods networked into each other and will contain upwards of 2,000 homes and a mix of commercial development. The project is centered around the new Mercy Regional Medical Center.

Congratulations guys!

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PURGATORY: Durango Mountain Resort got some big press this month. Ski Magazine selected Purgatory as one of the "Seven Great Mountains to Ski With Your Kids" in the November 2007 issue. One of only two resorts selected from Colorado, Purgatory was hailed for its "rolling steps that are roller coaster fun, but never intimidating."

The resort was pinpointed as being a great location for kids because of the family-friendly atmosphere of both the resort and the town of Durango. "With the one-two combo of town and resort, families find great skiing, comfortable digs ans an authentically Western experience," wrote the magazine. Ski also cited Mesa Verde and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad as excellent side vacations for families.

Purgatory is scheduled to begin the 2007-08 winter season December 1 with the 15th annual Benefit Day. The day features $15 lift tickets with all proceeds going to Durango Nature Studies and the Durango Winter Sports Foundation.

Purgatory's Benefit Day as raised more than $200,000 for local non-profit organizations in La Plata County since 1993. Previous benefactors include Trails 2000, Durango Discovery Museum and the Durango Arts Center.

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AFFORDABLE HOUSING: The Regional Housing Alliance of La Plata County has renewed its intergovernmental agreement it the Durango City Council, but the accord did not come without controversy.

Three years ago, the RHA signed agreements with La Plata County, Durango and Ignacio. Beginning in 2008, the agreements must be renewed annually. At Tuesday's council meeting the RHA asked councilors to renew the agreement as the Board of County Commissioners and Ignacio Town Board had done in recent weeks.

The City Council's vote, however, was not unanimous. Councilor Leigh Meigs voted against renewal of the agreement. She said she is disappointed in the progress of affordable housing efforts and the lack of guidance in creating a policy and an ordinance for affordable housing in the community.

Let's see -- we have an anti-growth Board of County Commissioners with its new land use code and plus an anti-growth City Council both extolling the need for affordable housing. It all sounds like political bull-hockey to me.

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EMPLOYMENT: The national unemployment rate for the month of September 2007 was 4.7 percent, which is up .1 percent from the month of August.

The State unemployment for the month of August, 2007 was 3.6 percent, which is down .2 percent from the month of July. This rate is 1.1 percent lower than the national average.

La Plata County boasts an unemployment rate for the month of August 2007 of 2.6 percent, which is down .1 percent from the month of July. This rate is 2.1 percent lower than the national average and 1 percent lower than the state average.

Our economy is strong, the real estate market remains good. If your thinking about a move to Durango, now is a terrific time. Give us call!

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AFFORDABLE HOUSING: City councilors and developers hope the Three Springs development in Grandview will be a model for a future affordable housing policy in Durango.

To comply with the original agreement, Three Springs must provide 52 attainable units for the first two phases. The developers fulfilled the requirement for affordable units for at least the first two phases by donating land for the 63 unit Mercy Housing PinonTerrace development adjacent to Mercy Regional Medical Hospital.

"Affordable" unites are defined as being affordable for households earning as much as 80 percent of the area median income or AMI. "Attainable" unites are those which are affordable to households earning between 80 and 125 percent of AMI.

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