It looks like Georgetown’s wastewater treatment plant saga may be coming to an end.

Monday night, after more than four hours of debate and discussion, the Floyd County Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously granted Georgetown a variance on 75.4 acres of property which will be used for the plant. The property is west of the town in Georgetown Township, which was originally zoned Rural Residential.

Monday’s decision was the last hurdle for the town to clear, barring a lawsuit. Once Georgetown receives all of its permits, construction at the site can begin.

The property was chosen out of 15 sites which were looked at according to County Planner Don Lopp. The natural buffer of trees, and the fact that the plant will be built 800 feet from the nearest home and within a half-mile of a sewer main, make it a perfect spot, according to officials.

However, the proposal didn’t pass without a fight.

Several residents along nearby Richland Drive in Georgetown filled up the third floor Assembly Room to protest the plant being placed on the site. Their attorney, Jack Vissing, said the plant should not be placed in a rural residential area.

“That is just wrong,” he said.

Pam Smith and her husband Steve organized the opposition to the plant. More than 80 people signed a petition against the wastewater treatment plant being built at the site.

One of the main concerns centered around the only access road, which crosses railroad tracks, in and out of the facility.

“The property is landlocked and I have grave concerns about the railroad,” Pam Smith said. “The train stops a lot and blocks the only way in and out of the facility. What if there is an emergency.”

She also said the first notification residents in the area received about the site being used for the site was Oct. 20. The first BZA hearing on the issue was Nov. 9, but the item was tabled until Monday night.

Georgetown officials said it was imperative that the BZA rule on the matter before December since all of the applications and paperwork have to be filed before the end of the year so a $3.5 million grant to build the facility would not be jeopardized.

Georgetown was approved recently for the grant through federal stimulus funds to build a wastewater treatment facility. The money is being managed by the Indiana Finance Authority.

Georgetown’s sewer problems began in 2006 when the previous town council signed an agreement with the New Albany Sewer Board that stated the town would be off New Albany’s sewers in 30 months. The 30 months expired Feb. 1, 2009.

Georgetown asked out of its contract with New Albany because it planned to build its own plant on 23 acres of land east of the town. But lawsuits over annexation of the property and not getting zoning approval from the county kept the town from building on that site, which made the deadline impossible to meet.

Georgetown and county officials have been looking for a site that both could agree on ever since, and with the BZA approval, it looks like that site has been found.

David Andrews, Georgetown attorney, said the state-of-the-art facility will be built on 13 acres with the rest of the property used as a buffer. He said the plant will put off little to no smell due to new technology and the fact that sludge will not be treated at the facility.

However, Vissing argued that the facility will put off an odor.

“They won’t be processing roses,” he said. “There has never been a sewer plant that hasn’t failed. When you put a sewer plant in a neighborhood, it kills the neighborhood.”

While some residents opposed the site, some spoke in favor of it Monday.

“I think it’s the best site Floyd County has for this operation,” said Roy Jones who lives nearby.

Georgetown Town Council President Billy Stewart said there have been more than 40 public meetings about the sewer issues and possible plant locations.

“I want something good for the environment and for the residents,” he said.