The Oakland Army Base development process chugged along Tuesday afternoon after a City Council committee voted to extend its negotiating agreement with developers and provide reimbursement of up to $14 million in redevelopment agency funds for the developers' subcontractors.

The Community and Economic Development Committee voted unanimously for the measures, which now will go before the full City Council.

The extension of the exclusive agreement is for a year. Funds committed to reimbursing subcontractors would not go to developers, according to a city staff report. The money would cover development and design work for base infrastructure.

"We're not writing a check and handing it to the developer and telling him to go for it," said Pat Cashman, Oakland Army Base project manager. "We're using his team and their knowledge and their expertise to put together a plan that works for them and works for us and can secure ... additional federal money to make this army base project work."

Currently, the city and the Port of Oakland are in extended negotiations with private developers California Capital Group and AMB Property Corporation, which signed a negotiation agreement with Oakland in 2009.

Tuesday's vote also include a resolution authorizing the city's redevelopment agency to put together a cost sharing agreement with the Port of Oakland for infrastructure development of the base.

Also included in Tuesday's action are plans to eliminate the mandated use by the Oakland Film Center that almost guarantees its lease. This action drew a series of comments from business owners and production staff that work at the site and fear developers will kick them off the site.

"(The mandated use) was a direct response to concerns voiced by the Oakland Film Center business owners that the selected development team, AMB/CCG, led by Mr. Tagami, did not intend to continue to include us in the future redevelopment of the army base," said Sean House, who owns Outhouse Productions, which works out of the center. "Today, those original fears are fully realized."

House said neither the city nor the developers reached out to the film center's business owners.

Phil Tagami, the managing general partner at California Capital Group, disputed the accusation and said his group was willing to work with the Film Center.

"We're more than happy to amend that specific rent and (have it) stated at fair market value," he told the committee. 

Council members strongly urged Tagami and his group to continue working with the center to ensure it that stays at the base.

The Army base site – co-owned by the city port – is an enormous chunk of land, the size of about 200 football fields, right at the base of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Roughly 303 acres, it was first opened in 1941 and served as a major military hub until it was officially closed in 1999 – part of a wave of military base closures across the country.

Previous attempts to develop the base, including plans for an Indian casino, an A's baseball stadium and a movie studio (run by Keenen Ivory Wayans) all failed.

Redevelopment of the site is expected to be expensive and complicated. Significant environmental clean-up of the site is needed and basic infrastructure, like establishing electricity and roadways, is expected to cost more than $100 million.

According to city staff, the committee's action is an important milestone towards getting the base fully developed.

"It's a crucial step that will allow the Oakland Army Base to achieve the benefits that a full build out of the base will provide Oakland," Cashman said.

City staff said despite the delay, the redevelopment of the base is slowly moving forward.

"In 12 to 18 months we'll actually have projects that will shovel ready," Al Auletta, project manager for the Oakland Army Base redevelopment, said.

The full City Council is expected to vote on the matter Tuesday, April 5.