At the time of the year when folks pause for self-reflection and renewal, a few resolutions for Barrington to consider in 2025 …

• Resolve to continue our work constructing new sidewalks for dangerous roads in town. Let’s start with a nice, safe sidewalk on Massasoit Avenue, which is a major thoroughfare for Barrington students each day as they make their way to and from school. 

• Resolve to find a positive outcome for the former Zion Bible College property in the north end of town. The sprawling 39.5-acre parcel has the potential to make a big difference — positively or negatively — for the community when it comes to housing and recreational needs. 

• Resolve to examine additional revenue sources in town that can reduce the extraordinary tax burden placed upon residents. And the tax bills will only be getting larger as the full effects of the $250 million school construction bond begin to reach deeper into residents’ pockets. 

• Resolve to preserve and protect the ever-diminishing open spaces in Barrington. Most of the undeveloped land in town is already on the radar screen for local builders, but we should continue to monitor any parcels that make their way to the open market.

• Resolve to engage more residents in local government — at last check Barrington had openings on about a dozen boards and commissions, ranging from housing to senior services to the veterans advisory committee and more. The work can be challenging at times, but it is even more rewarding.

• Resolve to spend less, save more and stop throwing things out just to buy more. 

• Resolve to strengthen the bonds between our municipal government and our local business community.

• And finally… resolve to plant more trees — and kudos to Barrington for initiating a large tree-planting effort in the Foote Street/Maple Avenue neighborhood which was identified as a “heat island” in the recent Barrington Tree Canopy Report.