Thursday, January 4, 2007 Older Editions

Hope for the new year

With the arrival of each year, comes a time of hope. Even the most Twinkie-centric among us might make a resolution to exercise, or to eat more vegetables. We resolve to quit smoking, no matter how many times we've failed before. Or we say we will treat others better, even if on New Year's Eve we were swearing at someone for taking a parking space.

Such hope applies to the workings of the town. As a new year dawns, here are some issues we believe will be addressed in Andover, and hope will be improved:

Controlling benefit costs

As the costs of health care and other benefits escalate, Andover and other communities are finding it difficult simply to offer the same services - even while raising taxes to the maximum allowed under Proposition 21/2. As baby-boomer employees near retirement, such expenses will pose a greater problem. The town and its unions need to work on appropriate compromises. Given that the state has ruled some employees can add the value of take-home vehicles to their pensions, selectmen are right to scrutinize the costs associated with all town vehicles. We hope they vote on policies that save the town money.

Provide more field time for sports teams

Since the town has been unable to create many new fields in recent years, a private group is offering to pay to replace Lovely Field at Andover High School with an artificial surface like the New England Patriots use. We hope the effort gains the support of townspeople so that school and youth-league teams have more quality field time available to them.

Relieve congestion

We hope for progress on the important road projects being discussed, especially the Interstate-93 interchange plan, which could be the most significant Andover development in decades. We hope that a spring groundbreaking on the long-anticipated Main Street project, meant to improve traffic flow and safety in the downtown shopping area, is not another empty promise by the state.

Youth and senior center progress

Finally, we hope both seniors and youth will see progress toward their goals this year. The town is seeking a small senior-center addition that will provide seniors with an area to meet their friends, and we hope this will be supported. We also hope youth-foundation and town leaders move ahead more quickly to decide whether to support a privately funded center behind Doherty Middle School. The idea has seen little progress - or discussion - in the last six months.