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Fairburn

residents can look forward to a prosperous new year.

That's the

assessment of Fairburn Mayor Betty Hannah, who delivered a rousing,

upbeat "state of the city" speech during Monday night's council

meeting.

She said

she was happy that Fairburn's cable and Internet service is adding new

subscribers and said that Union City had just signed up to join the

system.

The city

continued to grow by leaps and bounds and Hannah pointed to the 700

acres the city has annexed during 2000.

The city

also is adding new residents as the Meadow Glenn project on Ga. Highway

74 continues to build new multifamily and single family residences.

"I feel

we'll be right at 5,000 residents when the Census figures come out,"

she said.

Although

many residents are finally discovering the city, she feels the city

is growing at a manageable rate and praised the staff for their work.

The busy

state highway also will be the site for a major shopping center in the

future, she added.

The city's

Police Department has recently formed a bicycle patrol unit that will

help in community policing and getting into areas that cars have difficulty

navigating, she said.

"It's

been a good year and we've faced a lot of challenges," Hannah said.