CHARLESTON — A group of almost 70 state lawmakers urged Jasper County and the State Ports Authority on Wednesday to settle their differences and jointly manage a new steamship terminal on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River.

“When a project offers the multitude of benefits that the new terminal does, we must put aside our differences and come together to build it,” said state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Jasper.

Both the authority and the county want to build a terminal on an 1,800-acre site downstream from Savannah.

Under a proposal unveiled Wednesday at the State House, the county would pursue its plans to develop a terminal with SSA Marine, a private terminal operator that has pledged $500 million for the project.

The State Ports Authority, under the proposal, would withdraw a suit before the state Supreme Court arguing that the authority has the right to develop the terminal.

As part of the plan, fees charged for container moves at the terminal would go to the authority, not the county. The terminal could not impose rates lower than those charged now at other authority terminals.

At the expiration of a 32-year management agreement, title to the terminal would be transferred to the authority from the county. Neither the county nor the state has title to that land now. The tract envisioned for the terminal is owned by the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Officials estimate the terminal would provide 450 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs.

But the authority said the proposal is not in the state’s best interests.

“The State Ports Authority has not agreed, and will not agree, to the compromise proposal being circulated,” an agency statement said. “This proposal locks South Carolina into a deal that it didn’t make.”

“I understand what Jasper’s doing. I understand what the Lowcountry folks are doing,” said Carroll A. Campbell III, treasurer of the authority board. “What they are missing is that we represent the entire state of South Carolina. We don’t just represent one county.”

Jasper County appreciates lawmakers’ efforts to resolve the dispute and “we will review their proposal with great interest,” said county administrator Andrew Fulghum.

He added the county has been working to develop a terminal for a decade “and we have always said we would welcome the Ports Authority’s support and collaboration.”

The authority board voted in January to acquire land for a terminal on the Savannah River. It also is continuing with plans to build a new terminal at the old Charleston Naval Base.