Guyton City Council members believe they have taken a big step toward their town’s future.

In a called meeting Wednesday morning, council members approved the purchase of nearly 650 acres at a cost of approximately $2.2 million to build the city’s first wastewater treatment plant.

“We’re moving forward,” Alderman Phillip King said. “This is something that’s got to be done. We can’t put it off any longer.”

“We’re looking to the future,” Alderman Jeff Lariscy said. “We don’t see a lot of other avenues at this time. It is a big step.”

Guyton currently has a contract with Springfield to use some of the capacity at that city’s sewage treatment facility. Guyton has a contract with Springfield for an additional 100,000 gallons of capacity and is awaiting state Environmental Protection Division.

“Hopefully, in three years, we’ll have our own wastewater treatment system,” King said. “We won’t have to rely on Springfield. We’ll control our own destiny.”

Council members approved spending approximately $118,000 out of the city’s general fund for the project. The city also entered into a loan with the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority for the remainder of the purchase price for the two tracts of land.

The wastewater treatment plant under consideration is expected to have a capacity of 250,000 gallons a day to start with and perhaps could be expanded to as much as 750,000 gallons a day.

“Springfield is going to need increased capacity. They have limited capacity there,” Lariscy said.

The Guyton council sees Effingham’s growth only continuing, with the sustained boom at the Savannah ports plus the Industrial Development Authority’s I-16 project and the successful recruitment of Portuguese manufacturer EFACEC.

“Our developers are telling us they want taps, they need taps,” Lariscy said. “We think the housing market will continue (to grow).”