What is poised to become a wetland mitigation bank on a 300-acre nature preserve site adjacent to Bohannon Road came a step closer to reality Jan. 28 as Fairburn City Council hired a consulting firm to determine the value of mitigation credits and form the bank.

Vernon Hills, Illinois-based Manhard Consulting was selected from three companies vying for the job. Initial discussion over a recommendation by a city selection committee that favored ACER consulting gave way to a vote for Manhard at the suggestion of Councilman Scott Vaughan. Manhard had bid $68,037 compared to $92,500 by ACER and $119,173 by Ecological Solutions. City administrator Jim Williams said the committee had recommended ACER because they thought Manhard had under-represented anticipated project costs. Manhard was hired, nonetheless, after discussion by the council.

Describing the overall project, city engineer Troy Besseche said the 300-acre site was purchased nearly 10 years ago for use as a wastewater treatment plant. Opposition by nearby Line Creek residents and an agreement with Fulton County for additional wastewater treatment capacity led to the consideration that the area be use for more environmentally-sensitive purposes such as education, wetland mitigation, water resource preservation and possible groundwater exploration.

“These uses are consistent with earlier decisions by the council and with the desires of residents in the area,” Besseche said. “One of the first uses of the property will be to establish a mitigation bank which will make use of improvements to the streams and wetlands on the property to compensate for impacts elsewhere.”

Commenting on the project, Williams said establishing a wetland mitigation bank would reap significant benefits for the city.

“This is a very important matter that came out of previous meetings,” Williams said. “It will convert the nature preserve into a mitigation bank. We’ll be able to use it to create areas that will offset development in other parts of the watershed. A developer needing to destroy wetlands has to replace them, so they can buy credits to build their project. This becomes a major source of revenue that will cover the cost of us buying the 300-acre nature preserve and perhaps the cost of the education complex. We’re talking about millions in (wetland mitigation) credits, potentially.”

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