After nearly four years of haggling over the proposed Dakota Pacific development at the Park City Tech Center, the Summit County Council has formed a subcommittee that will negotiate with the developer behind closed doors. Since only two council members (Canice Harte and Chris Robinson) will serve on the subcommittee, there will not be a quorum, and the meetings do not have to be public. Given the track record of the negotiations during which Dakota Pacific has been intractable and the council has repeatedly backed off their own demands, the public has the right to be skeptical and nervous. It is likely an agreement will be reached in these closed door meetings, and the plans will be presented to the public as fait accompli. Dakota Pacific has insisted they currently hold the right to build 24 Skullcandy-sized structures on their property. This claim has been parroted by certain council members and has regularly been stated in various press releases. This is the emptiest of threats. Since the Tech Center was established in 2008, only three projects have been completed: Skullcandy, the Liberty Peak apartments, and the Park City Visitor Center. How can this threat be taken seriously?  It would actually be amusing to allow Dakota Pacific to build 24 projects like Skullcandy. Given the lack of demand for the Tech Center, they would sit vacant indefinitely, there would be no profits for the investors, and the local management of Dakota Pacific would deservedly lose their jobs. The council should remember the public will not forget the lack of caring for our community repeatedly demonstrated by Dakota Pacific. They have always put profits above any other consideration.  Additionally, the public will not forget how the Summit County Council chose to ignore, or at least minimize, the overwhelming public opposition to this project from the very beginning. If the council thinks the public outrage will be blunted by conducting the negotiations in private, they will find out how wrong they are when the inevitable public meeting is finally held. Vincent A. (Van) Novack Snyderville Basin