The state Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill to close the port and force its owner, the State Ports Authority, to sell its 40 acres on Battery Creek at a fair market value.
The bill, which passed the state House of Representatives in April, now needs only Sanford's signature to become law.
"I feel good about it," said state Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, who cosponsored the House bill along with Reps. Thayer Rivers, D-Ridgeland, JoAnne Gilham, R-Hilton Head Island, Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, and Walter Lloyd, D-Walterboro. "I'm glad it got through the House and the Senate. It's important for the people of Port Royal and Beaufort County."
Sanford called for the Port Royal terminal's closure in July after a meeting with Bernard Groseclose, the authority's president and chief executive officer, saying state dollars dedicated to the money-losing port could be put to better use.
"As soon as the governor made the remark that he would like to see the port close ... that makes it real," Ceips said, adding that she had heard negative comments about the port for years. "I started drafting legislation immediately."
The Senate-sponsored version of the bill was passed by that group last month, but included an amendment proposed by Horry County Democratic Sen. Dick Elliot that would have limited the governor's ability to make appointments to certain state boards.
Local officials worried that the amendment would doom the bill once it reached Sanford's desk.
This time around, Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, the Senate bill's sponsor, said he spoke with Elliot, and convinced him to leave the House version of the legislation alone.
"It became a big issue," Richardson said of Elliot's proposed amendment. "I had to use a little persuasion."
The Senate approved the House version of the port plan Tuesday.
A new scare developed last week when state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, said he was considering adding a provision to the bill that would limit the State Ports Authority's ability to condemn land.
Jasper County officials are working to build a $400 million port on the Savannah River, and Pinckney's amendment, if passed, would have blocked the authority's ability to condemn the contested site.
Pinckney said he is in constant discussions with the State Ports Authority, and that the two parties "have an understanding," which is why he took his proposed amendment off the table, but wouldn't elaborate on what that understanding entails.
"I'm happy for the Town of Port Royal," Pinckney said. "I think it was a good bill."
Port Royal Town Manager Van Willis and Mayor Sam Murray drove to Columbia on Tuesday to talk to Pinckney about his proposed amendment. While they weren't able to connect with Pinckney, Willis said he and Murray did discuss the bill with "as many folks as both of us knew and were available."
"Needless to say, we're very happy with the efforts made by Senator Richardson and Representative Ceips," Willis said.
Once the amendment issues were out of the way, Richardson said there were no problems getting the rest of the Senate to support the bill.
Sanford spokesman Will Folks said the governor will likely sign the bill as long as there isn't any language weakening the power of the executive branch.
"If it is a clean Port of Port Royal bill, given that this was an idea that originated from the governor's budget hearing, he would be strongly inclined to sign," Folks said.
The legislation passed in the House and Senate eliminates the authority's responsibility to run a terminal in Port Royal, directs the it to appraise and sell its property in Port Royal by Dec. 31, 2006, and gives the Town of Port Royal the ability to petition for up to 5 percent of the sale's net proceeds to pay for infrastructure improvements related to the property's redevelopment.
Willis said he's hopeful Sanford will sign off on the legislation.
"I think what the House and Senate were able to deliver to the governor for consideration was a clean bill, which was important to him," Willis said.