A south Minneapolis neighborhood may be one step closer to a resolution on what will happen to the embattled Roof Depot site.

On Thursday — the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, or EPNI for short — announced it’s mailing a memorandum of understanding to the city council.

The document calls for the city to publicly support EPNI in securing $20 million in state funding to support an indoor urban farm.

“Where this thing was considered a nuisance that some thought would go away — it is now a serious consideration as part of state legislation that’s going through,” says EPNI’s Board President Dean Dovolis.

City leaders have proposed building a water and sewer maintenance facility there.

The former superfund site was slated for demolition in April to make way for the maintenance project, which the city says is urgently needed.

A court order put that on hold, and the building remains standing.

The site has been a focus of environmental debate.

Nearby residents say they’re concerned about underground toxic chemicals that could be disturbed if the warehouse were to be demolished.

The Public Works Department says their demolition plan is safe and was approved by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

EPNI says its urban farm plan would leave the building’s foundation in place — sealing, they say, those chemicals underground.

Its members say they’re optimistic state lawmakers will produce the money before the legislative session ends in the next week or two.

Part of that money — about $16.7 million — would be used to pay the city back for money allocated to purchase, plan, and develop the site.

Those dollars come from the city’s Waterworks Fund, which is collected from water customers, including several nearby government jurisdictions.

A spokesperson for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey released a statement Thursday, which says in part, “As previously stated by the City, Mayor Frey, and the City are in support of selling the Roof Depot site if the Waterworks Fund is repaid.”

Dovolis declined to discuss the status of two bills to provide the $20 million funding — one sponsored by State Rep. Hodan Hassan, DFL-Minneapolis, the other by State Sen. Omar Fateh, DFL-Minneapolis.

“The reason why we’re positive is because this is a road that’s being developed to make this project happen,” he says. “And obviously, in about two weeks, we’ll know that because that’s when the session ends. But right now, I’ve got to be respectful of the process that’s going on, but this has been a major change in position.”