How green can you get? That was the question Jan. 12 as Fairburn City Administrator Jim Williams unveiled plans for environmentally responsible actions for consideration by the city council in coming months.

Council members were responsive to ideas of establishing an outdoor laboratory at the city’s nature preserve in conjunction with the college campus scheduled in open in October. The council also heard tentative plans to use land mitigation credits at the nature preserve to help defray the costs of constructing the campus.

“We should be labeled as a green community. We need to proudly carry that label and demonstrate that we mean it,” Williams said.

Plans to establish a green community tie in directly with the city’s new education complex nearly set to begin construction. To date, Georgia Military College has agreed to a 10-year lease for one of the two initial 18,400 square-foot classroom buildings. City officials are currently in talks with other colleges and universities about leasing the second classroom building.

“The education complex will have an outdoor laboratory right there at the nature preserve. The initial dollars (from land mitigation credits) should go to retire the debt for the education complex and could be earmarked for some to go to the nature preserve. The nature preserve should be able to get carbon credits,” Williams said. “The key to Fairburn’s success is the education complex. The key to financing education is the mitigation credits at the nature preserve. We’re going to end up making a lot of money on what would have been a waste treatment plant.”

Williams also suggested that a non-profit organization be utilized to administer the activities of the nature preserve and to get the maximum advantage for things such as applicable grants.

Also at the meeting, Williams suggested the city continue its moratorium on construction of residential subdivisions, noting that there are currently 3,500 vacant lots in the city. Williams had made the same recommendation each year over the past few years due to the large number of homes, with the sometimes questionable building standards that resulted, that had been approved in previous years.

“We need to redouble our efforts on quaility control. We don’t need any more substandard homes,” Williams said.

As across the United States, the current slowdown in the housng market is affecting Fairburn. Williams said the council should take note of the economic conditions and potentially prepare for a recession that could have further impact on the city.

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