August 7, 2018
It was clear early on that the restoration of communications infrastructure would not be the quickest or best funded part of the post-Irma recovery efforts, which is why our founding members decided to form Love City Community Network as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our very specific and focused mission is to develop, deploy, operate, and maintain internet and other communication systems on St. John that will be sustainable through hurricanes and other natural disasters. While we’re proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish with generous support from the community, we still have a great deal of work ahead.
To ensure the financial sustainability of LCCN, we have planned from the beginning on a monthly fee of $55 for community members who use the network for non-emergency private home and business purposes. This fee-for-service was approved by both the IRS and VIBIR, but unfortunately, the V.I. Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, after a thorough review, has denied our fee-for-service plan. Though we’ve been diligent in ensuring we’re in full compliance with all laws and regulatory requirements, we are now working to address DLCA’s concerns so we may implement our fee-for-service plan.
In the meantime, we’ve relied on the 50-plus monthly givers and a small and mighty handful of major donors who have committed to financially supporting our efforts. We want to thank those who have given at all levels, and remind everyone who is benefiting from LCCN, which still has the widest reach of any ISP on island and serves more than 500 homes, businesses, and vacation villas to please make a contribution this month, or better yet, join our monthly giving program today!