Earth Protect Blog

By Noelle Phillips

The Denver Post

Boulder County’s commissioners hope the process of cleaning up the ash and debris from houses burned in the Marshall fire will begin by the end of March even as a lawsuit over the county’s contract to do the work makes its way through the court system.

On Tuesday, the Board of County Commissioners announced that it would deny appeals to the cleanup contract filed by two companies that bid on the work.

The Boulder County Purchasing Department reviewed the bid process and the scoring system that led it to recommend DRC Emergency Services to the board, and the commissioners accepted a staff recommendation to uphold the bid award. DRC would provide the best overall value, the commissioners said in a news release.

“Boulder County unfortunately has so much experience with natural disaster, we can rely on staff expertise. The committee spent the time needed for a thorough review,” Commissioner Marta Loachamin said in the news release. “We’re trying to respond as quickly as possible to community needs to get this work done in regard to debris removal.”

The commissioners awarded the contract to DRC on Feb. 10 at an estimated cost of $52.6 million. Boulder County is coordinating the private property debris removal for Louisville and Superior, too. At the time, commissioners said they expected the cleanup work to begin by March 1.

So far, 853 property owners have signed up to participate in the county’s debris removal program. The remaining homeowners will hire their own contractors to remove ash, debris and toxic waste from their lots.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency should reimburse Boulder County for at least 75% of the work and the state will cover the remaining 25% of the cost.

The county still has not inked a contract with DRC and work cannot begin until one is signed. The county also must sign an agreement with Louisville and Superior before the cleanup work starts. Louisville and Superior are expected to approve the intergovernmental agreement on Tuesday and the Boulder County commissioners are could sign off at their March 22 meeting, according to the news release.

The commissioners also could sign the contract with DRC on March 22 as long as a judge does not block the work because of a lawsuit filed in late February by a group called Demanding Integrity in Government Spending.

That group, which is affiliated with former FEMA director Michael Brown, who lives in Boulder County, is arguing that the county commissioners violated Colorado’s open records laws in awarding the bid and will put the county’s federal reimbursement in jeopardy because they did not follow federal procurement rules.

The group asked a judge for a preliminary injunction to stop the debris removal work until the lawsuit is resolved. A hearing on that injunction request is scheduled for March 18.

If Senior Judge Steven Howard were to approve an injunction, then debris removal would be delayed. If Howard denies the request, work could start while the lawsuit proceeds.

The delay, the lawsuit and the appeals have angered Marshall fire victims, who are anxious to put their lives back together in the wake of the Dec. 30 wildfire, which burned more than 6,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,000 homes.

Originally, the county estimated that cleanup work would be completed by July 1. No one can rebuild a home until the mess is gone.

“While Boulder County originally hoped to begin work on (debris removal) in early March, these administrative items have delayed the start of the program,” the news release said. “County staff remain hopeful the project will be completed in roughly the timeframe originally anticipated.”