December 30, 2021
$1.00
DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
DouglasCountyNewsPress.net
VOLUME 120 | ISSUE 8
Beekeeping chef has residents buzzing Home buyers,
buckle up for 2022
‘It’s been an adventure, I’ll tell you’ BY RACHEL LORENZ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
When Greg Strickland realized four years ago that the lackluster gardens at the Vi at Highlands Ranch senior-living community might need more pollinators, he jumped into beekeeping with both feet. The executive chef, who’s been with Vi since it opened in 2008, started with one and now maintains six rooftop hives at the upscale community off of South University Boulevard. “It’s been an adventure, I’ll tell you,” said Strickland, who incorporates the honey into Vi’s menu items. The sweet liquid is also put into jars and sold at Vi’s annual farmers market. Strickland, who’s been cooking for over 30 years, said he’s always striving to improve Vi’s culinary program. When he can, he offers specials that utilize SEE BEEKEEPING, P22
Constricted inventory, high prices expected to continue in New Year BY MOLLY ARMBRISTER SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Chef Greg Strickland hosts “Sip and Savor,” a wine and food pairing event, for resiCOURTESY OF VI AT HIGHLANDS RANCH dents of Vi at Highlands Ranch.
Douglas County Schools takes step to bolster compensation New system expected in the 2022-23 school year BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
A long-awaited overhaul of Douglas County Schools’ compensation for teachers is on the way to becom-
ing reality. District leaders still caution the plan is a starting point and more work remains to make DCSD as competitive a hiring force as it aspires to be. DCSD’s approach to compensation has fluctuated significantly in the past decade, starting with a controversial shift to market-based pay in 2012 and later a pay-forperformance system. Those events
were followed by a 2018 bond and mill levy override, which provided about $16.9 million in pay adjustments. But then came the pandemic. COVID-19 spurred pay freezes and furloughs, and delayed efforts to implement a new compensation system. The work got up and run-
After an especially difficult year for would-be home buyers, there is little relief in sight for those trying to find a house to purchase along the Front Range and in high-demand Douglas County. Home prices have appreciated at a rapid clip for the last decade in metro Denver, but 2021 posed even greater problems for those seeking to buy a home, with inventories of homes for sale plummeting to all-time lows in many areas. The low inventory led to an incredibly competitive sales environment, in which bidding wars were the norm and cash offers in some cases totaling tens of thousands of dollars above asking price flowed in. Unsurprisingly, the price of homes shot up over the course of 2021, from a position that many on the Front Range already found unattainable. In Douglas County, the median sold price for a detached home reached $677,000 in November 2021, an increase of more than 20% from the same month a year earlier, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. Overall, in the metro area, the median detached home price increased from $450,000 to $525,000 year-overyear through October, according to the Denver Metro Association of
SEE STEPS, P21
Dream Big Dreams...
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 11 | SPORTS: PAGE 20
SEE MARKET, P10
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