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"This Saturday, the group Keep BT Local will hold its first official meeting as a corporation. About 400 people and businesses have bought into the co-op that's planning to buy the embattled cable company.\u201COur view is of the core business they have now, the existing footprint and the existing customers, is what we would value and pay to the city,\u201D said Alan Matson, speaking on behalf of the group. \u201CThere\u2019s a pretty solid and decent infrastructure there that just needs the opportunity to be able to grow, and with the political turmoil around it, it doesn't have that ability right now.\u201DBurlington Telecom\u2019s fiber network provides high-speed Internet and cable to about 4,000 customers in the Queen City.It has put the city $17 million in debt. CitiCapital, who loaned the city money for the project, wants its $33 million back.\u201CThe entity is operating quite well right now,\u201D said Mayor Miro Weinberger, D-Burlington. \u201CIt is not able to repay its debt to the city taxpayers or the bank.\u201DBurlington and CitiCapital are in the midst of a lawsuit over the $33 million.Weinberger said when all is said and done, a co-op could be the city\u2019s answer.\u201CCo-ops have a long history of working well here in Burlington,\u201D Weinberger said. \u201CI think there's broad consensus that the city alone needs some kind of investment from outside parties for the telecom to thrive.\u201DThe co-op is looking to raise $250,000 in this first round of financing, asking each member to give in $250.Matson said the group is not focusing on revenue at the onset, and would look into buying BT after the city resolves its lawsuit.\u201CI think it's less of an investment and more of a control you're going to spend money on and more of a service you'll be using,\u201D he said. \u201CLet's all kind of work together in the community to keep this, basically to provide the services that we're looking for.\u201DWeinberger said he appreciates the work of the co-op, but adds it remains unclear when it could take BT off the city\u2019s hands.Are you using the WPTZ app? If so, click here to watch the video."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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