LONGMONT - After seizing DHB Networks Ltd's Wi-Fi infrastructure in Longmont for back taxes owed by the company and its predecessor, Boulder County sold the property for about $122,000 to recoup lost taxes, rent and utilities.

Nicolae Toderica, the sole bidder in the public auction, purchased DHB's assets for the minimum bid price of $121,770. Toderica, a RidgeviewTel LLC investor, hired the broadband development company to manage the citywide wireless Internet network in Longmont.

Vince Jordan, Longmont-based RidgeviewTel's president and chief executive officer, said his company will manage the network, provide customer support, upgrade the system, bill customers and treat the network as its own. The network will carry the RidgeviewTel brand.

As part of the three-year contract, Toderica will pay RidgeviewTel a flat fee for providing the services. After three years the contract can be renewed on a year-to-year basis.

Toderica bought the DHB assets after the Dublin, Ohio-based company failed to pay nearly $87,000 in taxes to Boulder County and another roughly $35,000 for utility pole access and utilities to Longmont, said Boulder County Treasurer Bob Hullinghorst.

Hullinghorst said DHB "refused to pay the prior taxes" when the company acquired the network from Kite Networks Inc. in June 2008.

Besides the nearly $12,000 DHB owed Boulder County for taxes the company incurred since January 2009, he said it inherited about $74,000 in taxes and interest when it acquired the network.

In October, Hullinghorst told the Business Report that he was willing to work the DHB on a payment plan, but he said the company never communicated with him.

"They never talked to us; never returned our phone calls," he said. He said the treasurer's office also sent e-mails, faxes and registered mail.

"They did talk to the county attorney. I explained to our county attorney that if they called again they should be instructed to talk directly to us. We weren't involved in a legal dispute, we were involved in a tax collection process."

DHB's phone lines were disconnected, but in October, DHB President Chris Harris said the company was unaware of the back taxes at the time it acquired the network. It received a demand letter from the county earlier this year, but could not afford to pay the taxes.

"We're not tax avoiders," Harris said. "We're a small company that operates on a thin profit margin ... this charge came out of left field for us."

Now that the wireless network is in the hands of RidgeviewTel, Jordan said his company plans to significantly upgrade the Wi-Fi network and have everything fully operational by the end of November.

The company is well versed in installing broadband networks. In July it announced plans to design an open access network that will provide Northern and Eastern Colorado with broadband service.

The roughly 22,000-square-mile project, expected to cost more than $30 million, should help attract numerous providers, helping to increase competition and help lower costs, according to the company.