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.