The Georgia Ports Authority board voted today to develop a port terminal on the Savannah River – in Jasper County, SC.

They voted unanimously to buy 1,518 acres @ $5k an acre, with South Carolina’s SPA terminal scheduled to consider similar options tomorrow.

Phase one is slated to take 5 yrs and $500 million.

* UPDATE 2/6/9: Charleston newspaper The Post and Courier says former S.C. State Ports Authority board chairman William L. Bethea Jr. was elected to chair the Jasper Ocean Terminal Joint Project Office. Bethea, a Hilton Head Island area attorney, will serve a one-year term as head of the office overseeing the project – no source was stated.