Boulder County and DRC Emergency Services ratified the Marshall fire debris removal contract on Tuesday, paving the way for the company to start hauling off wreckage that has been sitting untouched for almost three months.
The cost of the work now stands at $60 million, $8 million more than the original bid made by DRC.
The county also approved an intergovernmental agreement between Louisville, Superior and unincorporated Boulder County.
DRC President John Sullivan said the company hopes to start hauling off tons of ruined concrete foundation, burned out furniture and dead trees as soon as initial prep work is done. That may happen as nearly as next week.
"We're excited that we can help with recovery for the Boulder County community," Sullivan said.
Before the haul-off gets into full swing, Sullivan said there's a community meeting in the works to allow fire victims to speak about any concerns they might have. The meeting is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday.
DRC has been advertising to hire local subcontractors to help haul off the debris. The company has already been removing dead trees and other trash that residents have put in the right of way, as DRC has been Boulder County's on-call debris removal company for three years now. The debris removal contract is a separate agreement from the on-call contract already in place.
Sullivan said DRC met with Occupational Safety and Health Administration experts Tuesday to ensure that workers who handle the debris have proper personal protective equipment. He said workers will wear full body Tyvek suits while clearing debris because it's unknown what kind of environmental hazards lie in the rubble.
"Most of those homes were built after 1981, so asbestos is not the major concern," said Sullivan.
The long wait for debris cleanup has caused a blame game since Boulder County awarded the contract Feb. 10. The work was originally scheduled for March 1.
Boulder County Commissioners expressed dismay over the delay, blaming the lag time on a lawsuit over whether officials violated open meetings laws and also on two appeals from companies that lost out on the contract. A nonprofit called Demanding Integrity in Government Spending, spearheaded by Michael Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, withdrew a request for a rebid but is still calling for depositions from commissioners. DIGS hopes to uncover negotiations that the group said were done "in the dark," according to attorney Chad Williams. A judge is expected to rule on that request at the end of March.
Over 1,000 residential properties and 6,000 acres were lost and two people died in the Dec. 30 fire, which was the most destructive in Colorado history.
DRC is charging Boulder County by the property, which according to Boulder County Public Works spokesman Andrew Barth stands at 862. Superior, Louisville and unincorporated Boulder County residents had to opt into the Private Property Debris Removal Program. FEMA will pay 75% of the $60 million allocated to clear out debris and it's up to state and local governments to pay the remaining 25%.
Also on Tuesday, commissioners awarded a bid for $762,923 to TetraTech for soil sampling.
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