Boulder Seeks To Dismiss Lawsuit About Marshall Fire Debris Removal

BOULDER, CO — Boulder filed a motion Monday asking the court to dismiss a lawsuit brought against the county by Ceres Environmental Services, Inc., a news release said. The Florida corporation is suing the county to stop its Private Property Debris Removal program from going ahead after failing to secure a winning bid on the program.

Boulder, in its motion to dismiss the suit, claimed that Ceres has no standing to file a lawsuit, since the company is not a Boulder or Colorado taxpayer, and further, is suing based on an impossible-to-predict assumption of potential reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the news release said.

A previous lawsuit brought against the county by Demanding Integrity in Public Spending was dismissed by the court because the plaintiff was not a Boulder taxpayer, the news release said.

Ceres, according to the news release, has issued a motion for a preliminary injunction. The court has "indicated" that it will rule on Boulder's motion to dismiss the case before it rules on Ceres' preliminary injunction.

As the case proceeds, Boulder is going ahead with its Private Property Debris Removal program, the news release said. Trucks and teams from contractor DRC, which won the bid, arrived in Superior and Louisville on Tuesday to begin the work.

The project, according to a news release, is expected to take four months to complete and cost $60 million, 90 percent of which will be covered by FEMA, 5 percent by the state of Colorado and 5 percent by the counties of Boulder, Superior and Louisville.

"It’s a bittersweet day. We’ve worked so hard with our partners to get to this point in the recovery process and we can’t wait to see this debris cleared so we can start to bring our residents home," Louisville Mayor Ashley Stolzmann said in the news release. "However, standing here in front of the site of so many destroyed houses is still heartbreaking for me and all of our community members.

"I’m sure for many people outside of our community, the Marshall Fire feels like something that happened months ago, but for us, it has been a life-changing 109 days since the fire. There has been so much work behind the scenes to support our community, but seeing the trucks on-site today is a significant milestone in our recovery process and I know many people, including myself, will be celebrating it. There is a lot of work ahead, but the City of Louisville and our partners will be there for resident every step of the way."