Mayor Miro Weinberger Credit: Katie Jickling

It’s official: Schurz Communications has finalized its purchase of Burlington Telecom by signing paperwork and paying $30.8 million.

Mayor Miro Weinberger announced the deal at a press conference in his office on Wednesday afternoon, calling it “progress far better than was thought possible seven years ago.” Schurz representatives did not appear at the press conference, though the company did have officials in Burlington on Wednesday, according to the mayor.

The parties finalized the transaction despite a group’s threat to appeal the deal to the Vermont Supreme Court. The group of six city residents challenged the sale before the state Public Utility Commission and has argued that the city owes $16.9 million to the Burlington taxpayers.

Related

“There was a strong belief that there was virtually no chance of the Supreme Court undoing the transaction, so all parties were willing to move forward,” Weinberger said.

Some of the $30.8 million payment from Schurz will repay loans from Citibank and Blue Water Holdings, while some cash will go to consultants Dorman & Fawcett. The city can keep $7 million or use that money to buy a share of the telecom. The Burlington City Council has one year to decide how to use those funds.

“We worked as hard as possible to recover as much as possible,” Weinberger said.

Many details still must be worked out. Schurz Communications will hire a local general manager to take over for Stephen Barraclough, who had been running BT. The company will continue to work to build out fiber infrastructure within Burlington and surrounding communities, Weinberger said. It’ll also form a board to give out $300,000 each year to start-up tech businesses and community initiatives. 

Related Stories

Got something to say?

Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!

Katie Jickling is a Seven Days staff writer.

8 replies on “Schurz Communications Seals Burlington Telecom Deal”

  1. Thank goodness this sorry chapter in city government history is nearly over. Very good deal for the city under the circumstances. Not as good as Ting, but, still, thank goodness.

  3. Now that Miro has jettisoned a city asset into the private sector let us see what else he wants to sell off. As a very satisfied BT customer I can’t help but feel that BT will be diminished into another “free markets solutions” mediocrity like Comcast once Schurz starts to bleed it out of every penny it can get. But then again, Neo-liberals love this kind of stuff.

  4. Does the state supreme court have the gumption to stand up for actual citizens over corporations? It would certainly be mud on Miro’s face if it does. And that would be a good thing.

  6. Looking at the picture of Miro, he looks so smug! He’s just full of greed and dishonesty like the other politicians

  7. Wow. You obviously do not understand the Vermont Supreme Courts role. It doesnt decide cases based on Prog ideology. It doesnt act based on your false characterization of this case as *actual citizens vs. corporations.* (Lots of *actual citizens* agree with the PUCs decision.) It doesnt pick political sides in your personal war on Miro, on Democrats, on Schurz, on the mural, on new development in the city, on corporations, etc. It doesnt exist to assist you in throwing *mud* at people youve decided to hate. Its not going to reverse the PUCs decision because a handful of old socialist hippies are upset.

  8. Thank you Mayor,
    Keep BT local was and idea and no more then that.
    Sometimes you have to think with your head and not your heart!

Comments are closed.