RIDGELAND -- A loan agreement to bring a $450 million shipping terminal to the Savannah River in Jasper County received final approval Monday from the Jasper County Council.

Jasper officials have spent more than a decade trying to bring a port to a 1,863-acre site owned by the Georgia Department of Transportation, and last month they jump-started the process by agreeing to a three-part pact with South Atlantic Terminal International, a local subsidiary of SSA Marine.

The ordinance, unanimously approved Monday, allows the private developer to lend Jasper up to $15 million to acquire the land. It also opens the door for Jasper to sell $450 million in revenue bonds to build the port.

Resolutions allowing South Atlantic Terminal International to develop and manage the port already have been approved by the council.

Bringing a port to the South Carolina side of the Savannah River has been a divisive issue for officials on both sides of the river.

Last month, the S.C. State Ports Authority asked the state Supreme Court to determine whether the Ports Authority had the sole or superior right to develop such a port.

Jasper has filed a lawsuit seeking to condemn the land, while the state Ports Authority had stated its interest in acquiring the land from Georgia.

At the end of Monday's council meeting, Tom Davis, a Beaufort member of the state Ports Authority's board of directors and former chief of staff to Gov. Mark Sanford, answered questions posed by council members and area residents.

"It is my intention to come to meetings and build a relationship of trust," Davis told the council. "I have nothing but admiration for Jasper County Council and all they've done over the years. But for their insistence, this issue would not be brought to the front burner."

Davis said the Ports Authority's lack of communication with the county in the past and the pervasive distrust of the state group throughout the county was unfortunate, but that the state is working to build a port in Jasper as soon as possible.

"There is plenty of business to go around, in Jasper, Charleston and Savannah," he said.

"If you're genuine in your approach, we would like a commitment to meet weekly," Jasper County Administrator Andy Fulghum told Davis.