Guyton’s city council is hoping for a maximum of 100,000 additional gallons of wastewater treatment capacity from Springfield, which they believe will be enough to supply development in the town for the next three years.

The council met Friday afternoon during a special-called meeting and they approved an amendment to intergovernmental sewage treatment contract between the two cities.

In the amendment, Guyton’s council requested an additional 100,000 gallons per day to be treated. Councilman Phillip King explained that this number is a starting point. The final number they actually get may be lower.

Guyton officials are confident that the amount they are asking for is sufficient.

“We will not use 100,000 gallons between now and three years,” King noted.

Said Mayor Michael Garvin: “This should get us by easily for the next three years.”

Guyton is under a consent order from the state Environmental Protection Division. Part of their guidelines is that they come up with a short-term plan to address their sewage treatment needs, which the amendment attempts to do.

The two cities entered into a contract in 1989, which stipulated that Springfield would provide Guyton with sewage treatment. Under the deal, Springfield officials agreed to work toward furnishing Guyton with additional capacity as needed.

The initial amount was 30 million gallons of wastewater treated per year. However, Guyton is close to reaching that limit, and developers are pressuring the city for more wastewater capacity.

The two cities have been going back and forth for some time to try to reach a number they both could agree on, according to King. This request is the latest number.

Springfield public works director Lowell Morgan explained that it is up to EPD to determine how many additional gallons they will actually get. That will depend on how the city addresses their current wastewater treatment problems, which it is trying to resolve.

“We would love to have that 100,000,” he said.

Springfield is working on a proposal now to submit to EPD and they helped Guyton work on this new amendment.

Morgan said that everything is in the early stages.

“We’re trying to be the middle person here and a good neighbor,” he said.