Town Commissioners — 2022-02-02

This is a joint Queenstown Commissioners and Finance Committee work session (Feb 2, 2022) to discuss the Greenlee Group financial impact study for the Wheatland's Development Project. Town Planner Peter Johnston presented Maryland Dept. of Assessment & Taxation sales data (2020–2021) and argued the study’s assumed sale prices are too high, recommending lower conservative estimates (he cited townhome $450,000 → $325,000 and cottage $500,000 → $270,000 and questioned the $550,000 single-family assumption); he also said infrastructure costs in the report appear about 10% low and should include life‑cycle replacement and maintenance and that street dedications should wait until tax revenue can cover maintenance. Finance Chair Pat Bowell noted the report’s prices are projected at development maturity (10 years), said they are slightly high, cited a 2015–2019 QAC median single-family price of $475,000, questioned some rental assumptions, and asked that modeling be extended to 20 years because town costs accrue incrementally. The Commissioners decided to contact the Greenlee Group with these concerns and asked Town Manager Amy Moore and Mr. Johnston to draft the letter; the session opened at 3:05 PM and closed at 4:02 PM (Hardee motion, Callahan second, vote 2 aye–0 nay).