COOS BAY — The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay decided to extend its land sale agreements with Jordan Cove Energy Project and Weyerhaeuser Co. on Monday, giving the parties involved an additional year.

The port now has until December 2009 to execute a contract with Weyerhaeuser to purchase 1,300 acres of property on the North Spit. It has a similar amount of time to sell about 150 acres of that land to Jordan Cove so the company can build a liquefied natural gas terminal.

LNG opponents lobbied hard for the port to opt out of the agreement, or at least delay the decision to modify it.

“It’s up to you folks to stop this project,” said Stephen Pickering, a Coos Bay resident running for City Council.

Port commissioners said they can’t stop the project and have more power over it by maintaining the agreement. They said if the port didn’t approve the extension, Jordan Cove could contact Weyerhaeuser tomorrow and reach an agreement on the land on their own. Then oversight of the project would be even more firmly entrenched with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

“If we don’t approve this, we’ll be removed from the project,” said David Kronsteiner, president of the board of commissioners. “It still goes on without us.”

The port agreed in 2006 to purchase Weyer-haeuser’s property for $25 million. Jordan Cove would pay $3.1 million to purchase some land for its terminal and $7.9 million to lease space at a marine terminal it will build, but the port will own the rest.

The agreement came to fruition after Jordan Cove initially approached Roseburg Forest Products about purchasing some of its land. Port and Roseburg officials have said that remains a private development option should the port deal fall through.

The port would use Jordan Cove’s $11 million to pay off its $10 million loan from Umpqua Bank and purchase environmental insurance, said Port Executive Director Jeffrey Bishop.

The port also obtained a $15 million loan from the state, which Bishop said would be paid off from Jordan Cove’s property taxes or further land sales.

Weyerhaeuser included a $100,000 fee for extending the agreements, which Jordan Cove will pay for, he said.

Bishop said the only cost of the extension to the port is a $15,000 fee from Umpqua Bank, one of two sources of funding for the port. That fee will be paid with the port’s special projects fund, said Martin Callery, director of communications and freight mobility.

Bishop estimated that if the Jordan Cove project goes forward, it would produce about $7.5 million annually for the urban renewal district on the North Spit. These funds could go toward funding public ownership of the Coos Bay rail line, dredging of the shipping channel and enticing other business to the area, he said.

Kronsteiner said this influx of funds factored into his decision.

“It’s not necessarily about the jobs,” he said, referring to the 60 jobs Jordan Cove has said it would create. “It’s about what we can afford to do.”

Most of the opposition to the agreement centered upon the pipeline. Speakers came from as far away as Winston and Myrtle Creek to condemn the idea of energy companies using eminent domain to build a 230-mile pipeline from the North Spit to Malin, southeast of Klamath Falls. There also were speakers who suggested the public didn’t have a chance to participate in the process.

“It would be nice to have it all out in the public before a vote is taken,” said Jody McCaffree, a North Bend resident and leader of the Citizens Against LNG group.

There also were several speakers who suggested the port should renegotiate the contract given the drop in property values in the area.

Bishop said such a step was unnecessary, since the port is simply serving as a middleman between a company willing to sell the property and a company willing to buy it.

“In the end, we walk away with 1,100 acres for nothing,” he said.

Three commissioners who were present, including Caddy McKeown and Brady Scott, said they are well acquainted with the arguments against the project. And while most of the speakers Monday were in opposition, Scott said he didn’t think they reflected the majority opinion.

“Our responsibility is to everyone,” said Scott. “It’s about balance and I haven’t heard anything to change my mind this evening.”

McKeown said the board of commissioners were simply extending an agreement that keeps a check on Jordan Cove, even if it’s a small one.

“I’d rather have a modicum of oversight than none, which would happen if we weren’t to pass this motion,” she said.

Dan Smith and Jerry Hampel were absent.

The FERC has ultimate siting authority of the project, though the port could ensure money comes to local agencies, Bishop said.

He noted that if Jordan Cove were to fail to meet payments to North Bay Fire or the county sheriff’s office, for example, the port could declare a breach of the berth lease. They could refuse any LNG tankers from docking until the money is paid.