The Springfield City Council has approved a contract to purchase 105 acres of land for a spray field on Rincon-Stillwell Road for $2.4 million.

Mayor Barton Alderman said the council had been looking at a piece of land further outside of Springfield, and this piece of property came open and is much closer than the property the city had been looking at and this property will be owned by the city, where the other property was to be on a 20-year lease.

Alderman said the property is approximately three miles from the treatment facility.

The contract is also contingent upon approval from the Environmental Protection Division to use the land as a spray field.

Alderman said if the land is approved for use as a spray field the city would then have to secure one right of way in order to run pipes under the railroad to the site, the city currently has all the other right of ways needed in order to move the water from the treatment facility to the sight.

“This is the first step in taking care of our wastewater woes, and they have been many,” Alderman said.

Alderman said there are options for paying for the land including a GEFA loan, using SPLOST money or using a bank to finance the purchase.

“We have not discussed that in depth,” he said.