Washington County Commissioners outlined their goals for 2025 last week, and their aims are admirable. The challenge now is whether it can all be accomplished.

Commissioner James Booth says he’s going to continue to work on broadband access for the county. It seems almost impossible that process is taking so long, doesn’t it? But in this part of the country, Washington County is not alone on that front.

Other priorities for Booth included getting sewer for Ohio 7 South, working with Sheriff Mark Warden to get funding to hire environmental officers for the county, and making fire and emergency medical services a priority (including centralizing 911 services and giving county EMA its own building).

“It would be my belief that before we start any other initiatives or spend any more money we should take care of first responders first and get that building up so that they can store those county squads and the air truck so when there is an emergency that equipment will be ready to go,” Booth said.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Charlie Schilling, who shares some of Booth’s goals, also wants to keep an eye on inflation, support the county’s community development fund and address spending on capital projects.

“Capital projects in 2024 amounted to $1.25 million and I think the reality is we shouldn’t spend over $500,000 this next year in capital projects,” Schilling said.

Schilling, too, said he wanted to support providing the best services possible to county residents.

He also is looking to help reduce child placement cost in the county, obtain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area designation, expand water service and advocate for the county water associations, effectively use opioid settlement money, push state lawmakers to take another look at payment in lieu of taxes for Wayne National Forest, and continue to work on the relationship between the county and state and federal officials.

Schilling also mentioned Buckeye Fields, a planned affordable senior housing project about which many residents may have forgotten.

“Buckeye Fields is a project that we’ve got to continue to go down the path to try to get construction,” he said.

It’s a long list, particularly when one considers all the routine matters the commissioners will also face in the coming year.

Here’s hoping they do not lose sight of what matters — not just for them, but for Washington County residents — and that they are successful in tackling an ambitious but very necessary list.