Ripton Broadband Coop update

An update on the Ripton Broadband Coop:

Hello RBC Members,

Those with automatic billing have been charged for August service.

Our annual meeting is Monday, September 29, 7:00 pm, at the Ripton Fire Station. A treasurer's report, update from NBN, questions/comments from members, and new board members are agenda items.

Important progress of the 2007-2008 year is that our financial picture improved greatly. We are still paying two loans, but our monthly income now exceeds our monthly expenses by a comfortable margin. The grant we received from the Vermont Telecommunications Authority enables us to make a substantial improvement to our network without borrowing. RBC has 66 members with 68 active radios installed in the community. Seven members "host" radio equipment by providing a location and power for transmitting equipment, and allowing access by NBN.

A new email address, rbc.billing at gmail.com, is being used for billing and notices. A few of you should have received an email invoice for renewal of an annual payment from that address. The gmail account was chosen because it is free; RBC pays $1 per month to Green Mountain Access for each ripton.coop-net email account. If you opened a ripton-coop.net account, but do not intend to use it, please let us know so that it may be closed.

thank you,
Alison Joseph Dickinson