The newly appointed Berlin Falls Park Advisory Committee has a great opportunity and a tough assignment. The opportunity, obviously, is to guide the creation of a real recreational jewel for the town. The tough assignment: help manage the public’s expectations. Even though developing practical ideas and recommendations for the mayor and council to consider will require a great deal of thought and discussion, the committee will have to join town officials in explaining, repeatedly, why some things can’t be done quickly, simply because that’s what the community wants. Naturally, people will want plenty at Berlin Falls, but many of these desires won’t be financially feasible to do in the short term. As Mayor Gee Williams has said numerous times, the full development of Berlin Falls will take decades and will involve multiple generations. What the committee will do, most likely, is sort through the various proposals and suggestions brought before it, and separate these propositions into categories such as the immediately doable, intermediate objectives and long-term goals that might be accomplished years from now. The committee’s determinations in this regard will disappoint people now and then, but there would be no point in advocating an approach or a project that simply can’t be paid for at this time. An idea, after all, is destined to remain just that until the money is available to make it a reality. That’s what the committee will need to emphasize as it goes about its business.