The commissioners voted Dec. 17 to have Charles "Chip" MacLeod of the Funk & Bolton law firm represent the county at a cost not to exceed $7,000. The commissioners hired an outside attorney because County Attorney Patrick Thompson could testify as a witness in the case.

The previous commissioners signed the DRRA for the Four Seasons project on Sept. 17. The current five commissioners came into office in early December. Four Seasons would be a planned residential community of 1,350 home built by K. Hovnanian on 562 acres in the Chester and Stevensville areas, north of U.S. Route 50 near Castle Marina Road. 

The DRRA is a contract between the county and Hovnanian which specifies each party's obligations in the construction of Four Seasons. 

A citizens group, Queen Anne's County Conservation Association Inc., filed a lawsuit against the county commissioners in circuit court that asks for an injunction to stop the county and Hovnanian from taking action based on the DRRA and to declare the DRRA illegal. Other plaintiffs in the suit include Queenstown residents Richard and Eleanor Altman, and Chester residents Richard and Debra Mae Paquin, Bernard and Mary Jedrowicz, and Virginia West.

The other defendants include K. Hovnanian at Kent Island LLC and K. Hovnanian Companies of Maryland Inc., both of which filed a preliminary motion to dismiss the complaint. A motions hearing is scheduled Feb. 11 

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