Dean Dovolis, with the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI), told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS there will soon be an announcement about fundraising goals as EPNI tries to buy the old Roof Depot site from the city of Minneapolis for $11.4 million.

EPNI agreed to raise $3.7 million toward the purchase, with the rest coming through state bonding dollars, but the legislature has only approved $2 million, with the remaining $5.7 million still in limbo.

“Let’s just say I will have a lot to tell you next week. Right now, I have to be respectful of everyone that’s pulling it together. But, I can say EPNI is doing their part to keep up their part of the bargain,” said Dovolis.

The vision is to build an eco-friendly urban farm with new businesses and dozens of jobs while promoting sustainability.

But, an internal city email from the Director of Property Services, showed the city is spending quite a bit of money to maintain the site and provide security.

In this email, Barbara O’Brien said, “The recent/current reality is closer to $100,000 monthly,” which, over a 12-month stretch, would be $1.2 million.

Minneapolis resident Carol Becker told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS she is concerned the full funding of the purchase agreement for the site won’t happen and public money will not be utilized well.

“That means, just to hold this property, every month we’re spending $100,000, or $1.2 million a year,” said Becker. “I mean, if you put affordable housing on a whole city block like this you could put in a ton of it. It would be a block-and-a-half from the light rail and would be very attractive.”

The funding for the maintenance and security of the old Roof Depot site comes from water bills paid by city property owners.