ERPS Committee Meeting Summary – April 21, 2026
ERPS Committee Meeting Summary – April 21, 2026
The Employee Relations and Public Safety (ERPS) Committee of DeKalb County met on April 21, 2026, under the chairmanship of Commissioner Ladina Bolton (Super District 7). Committee members present included Commissioner Nicole Masaya (District 3) and Commissioner Marita Davis Johnson (District 5), along with other commissioners. The agenda covered fire station construction awards, public safety grants, investigative tools, animal welfare ordinances, littering regulations, and updates on employee benefits and committee goals.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes (Item 2026-0652): The minutes from the March 26, 2026 meeting were approved unanimously.
Discussion Items
- Fire Station Construction RFP (Item 2026-0532): A request for proposals for fire stations 5, 16, and 27 with a recommended award to Cooper and Company General Constructions Inc. at a not-to-exceed amount of $26,588,000. The project includes replacing stations built in 1952 and 1968 and a new station in southeast DeKalb. Discussion included LSBE participation and future stations (including station 14 and Blackburn Park). The item was deferred for two weeks to allow audit completion.
- DUI Task Force Grant (Item 2026-0592): An amendment to the FY2026 HEAT grant to include a county match of $30,194.81, bringing total grant value to approximately $151,000. Approved.
- Investigative Tool Subscription (Item 2026-0635): A five-year subscription to LeadsOnline for nationwide stolen property searches, costing $239,484.96. Approved.
- Pet Shop Ordinance (Item 2026-0278): A proposal to prohibit retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in unincorporated DeKalb County. Deferred two weeks for further legal review.
- Animal Tethering Ordinance (Item 2026-0596): An ordinance to strengthen existing animal tethering rules. Deferred two weeks.
- Scrap Tire and Littering Resolution (Item 2025-0683): A resolution to address egregious littering and illegal dumping of scrap tires. Deferred two weeks for review of proposed text amendments.
- Open Enrollment Preview: Human Resources presented the marketing plan for employee benefits open enrollment, running May 4–18, 2026. The county covers basic life insurance for all employees; employees with HSAs or FSAs must re-enroll. In-person sessions are scheduled for field employees and others. The cost of outreach (~$70,000) is covered by permissible insurance commissions.
- Committee Goals: The committee reviewed goals for the year, including quarterly operational updates from E911, fire, medical examiner, and animal services. Priorities for upcoming meetings: animal services (transitioning from OPS) and the medical examiner’s office (opioid settlement fund use). Other topics included a blasting ordinance for the Stonecrest/Lithonia area and county pension changes (still under discussion).
Key Outcomes
- Approved:
- Meeting minutes (Item 2026-0652).
- HEAT grant amendment (Item 2026-0592).
- LeadsOnline subscription (Item 2026-0635).
- Deferred (two weeks):
- Fire station RFP (Item 2026-0532) pending audit.
- Pet shop ordinance (Item 2026-0278).
- Animal tethering ordinance (Item 2026-0596).
- Scrap tire resolution (Item 2025-0683).
- Next Steps: Animal services and medical examiner updates to be scheduled; county pension changes to be advanced; open enrollment begins May 4.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to the ERPS Committee. This is Employee Relations and Public Safety. I am Ladina Bolton, your Super District 7 Commissioner, as well as your deputy presiding officer. But I am your chair right now for the ERPS Committee. And joining me are our other commit committee members, Commissioner Nicole Masaya of District 3, and Commissioner Marita Davis Johnson of District 5. We also have our colleagues here, Commissioner Patrick, District 1, Commissioner Long Spears of District 2, and Commissioner Ted Terry. So at this time we're gonna go ahead and jump into our agenda. It is not very long today, but we do have some exciting things on here to talk about, but we will start with our minutes from the previous meeting. This is item 2026, 0652. These are the March 26th meeting, March 26th minutes. Do we have a motion for this item? I make a motion that item uh 0652 be approved. Second. All in favor. Aye. Motion carries recommended for approval by the ERPS committee. We're gonna jump down to fire rescue item 2026, 0532. This affects commission districts one three five and seven. It's an RFP, a request for proposals. The number is 2025-142. These are for fire stations 5, 16, and 27. And this is for use by the Department of Fire Rescue to complete the construction of a new fire station in Tucker, Decatur, and Latonia. It's recommended award as to the highest scoring proposer. It's Cooper and Company General Constructions Inc. Amount not to exceed 26 million five hundred and eighty-eight thousand dollars. And I will say I received a call during the break from a community member saying thank you for working on resurrecting a fire station in Latonia. Good afternoon. Um as you stated, very excited about this uh agenda item. Um it is replacing these uh or two replacements, one new bill, uh fire station number five, which is located at 43, I'm correction, located at 4013 Lawrenceville Highway, which was built in 1952. Uh its new home will be at 4329 Cowen Road, uh Fire Station 16, which is currently at 2750 Pleasantwood Drive. Uh it also was built, it was built in 1968. Uh its new home will be at 4242, uh, which formerly known East Side Drive, now Arthur Queen Drive in Decatur. And to your point, one that uh, although we're excited about all of them, but fire station 27, which new home will be at 7558 Pleasant Hill Road. That's an area on that um extreme southeast end of the county that definitely uh can use a fire station. So we're excited about that to provide better coverage in that part of the county. And I want to reiterate to the community that Author Queen, which was previously East Side Drive. I know my colleagues want to comment on that really quickly, but that's that's real cool. Just had the um ribbon cutting now they're getting ready to get a fire station on author queen. Did you want to say something? Oh, okay. Did you want to say something? Just uh appreciate you, madam chair, just the excitement um being able to share that um along with the other colleagues, um, being out there CEO was there. It was amazing day being able to celebrate just a momentous occasion for uh epifitting man who did his best to serve his community. And again, we're thankful for you know his family allowing him, you know, us to have him and for um him to now give us them and to be able to name rename now author Jay McQueen Tribe and so you know great ICs, great celebration with the community and more of the businesses that we need, legacies we need in our community. So thank you so much and I appreciate you allowing me to share that um chair and um commissioner Davis Johnson. Thank you. Were there any questions or comments from commissioners regarding item 053 2? I'm assuming it's going to audit. Yes, ma'am. It has nothing to do with the road.
openpublica.com