BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — A Boulder County judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit against the county’s Marshall Fire debris removal program that has been held up for weeks.
Senior Judge Stephen Howard dismissed the suit filed by a nonprofit called Demanding Integrity in Government Spending (DIGS) because the judge said the organization’s claims had no standing as the group and its members are not affiliated with Boulder County. The judge vacated the hearing scheduled for March 30.
The nonprofit that filed the lawsuit was registered in January and is led by Michael Brown, the former FEMA administrator under President George W. Bush and current 630 KHOW talk radio host.
The group was seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction claiming county commissioners violated the Colorado Open Meetings Law and improperly convened executive sessions when they unanimously awarded the cleanup contract to Metairie, La., based DRC Emergency Services, LLC. The company told commissions it was capable of starting the cleanup process by March 1 and could have it done by the beginning of July.
The county argues it did indeed follow state law during the contract procurement process – with the team recommending DR Emergency Services, LLC, to county commissioners for the process, which the board adopted during a Feb. 10 public meeting.
The county said since the lawsuit was tossed, it will move forward to finalize the contract with DRC Emergency Services and the intergovernmental agreement between the county, Louisville and Superior.
Boulder County is hosting an online community meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday to provide additional information to impacted property owners who have opted in to the PPDR program. Register for the meeting by visiting www.BoCo.org/Debris-Meeting-March29.
