The Boulder County Commissioners Tuesday approved an intergovernmental agreement and a contract to begin a coordinated debris cleanup program for properties destroyed by the Marshall Fire.
“This is a great day,” Commissioner Matt Jones said. “It’s heartening. People can now start putting their lives back together.”
The Dec. 30 blaze destroyed 1.084 structures in Boulder County, Carrie Doyle, assistant county attorney, told the commissioners during a Zoom meeting. More than 800 property owners across Superior, Louisville and unincorporated Boulder County have agreed to participate in the Private Property Debris Removal - or PPDR - program, according to a Boulder County news release.
The City of Louisville and Town of Superior signed onto the intergovernmental agreement earlier this month.
The commissioners also approved a $60 million contract with DRC Emergency Services, LLC to do the debris removal work.
In addition, the commissioners approved a recommendation from county, Louisville and Superior staff to award a bid for soil sampling to TetraTech for $762,923. Three companies bid for the soil sampling work with TetraTech receiving the highest scores from the bid review team on pricing, quality of services offered, and most relevant experience, the news release states.
Soil sampling will take place at each property after debris is removed in order to provide property owners with information about whether hazardous contaminants such as heavy metals exist on each site, the news release states. For the expected small number of properties where the contaminants are identified, the PPDR program will work with property owners to possibly remove additional topsoil to ensure sites are safe for reconstruction.
DRC staff and other contractors will soon be in the field to prepare specific information about each site, the news release states. Property owners may see arborists, inspectors, and other staff marking items on properties in anticipation of cleanup.
The prep work is expected to take one-to-two weeks before work with heavy equipment begins on individual properties, the news release states. Once underway, the PPDR program is expected to last about four months.
Boulder County will host an online community meeting at 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 29, to provide additional information on scheduling, soil sampling and project monitoring, inspection and management, the news release states.
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