MISSION, TX— Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) announced two grants for the City of Mission -- a $1,022,828 federal grant to the Mission Fire Department from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) Program and a $500,000 grant for the City of Mission from the National Park Service (NPS) for the revitalization of Birdwell Park. 

Funding for Mission Fire Department

The City of Mission Fire Department will specifically be used to hire nine additional full-time firefighters. The money will be distributed over a three-year period at $340,942 per year. The SAFER Program focuses on providing funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter organizations to help them increase or maintain the number of trained, frontline firefighters in their communities.

This award will help the Mission Fire Department comply with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1710 standard, which recommends fire stations to staff at least four firefighters at all times per station. Currently, Mission Fire Stations #4 and #45 only employ three firefighters each, which could impede their efficiency during a crisis.

“Given this growth, the ability to have a department that meets NFPA 1710 standards will greatly improve the safety of the community and also the safety of our firefighters,” said Congressman Henry Cuellar. “This funding will ensure that the Mission Fire Department will be able to hire staff to accommodate the city’s growing population and increase the safety of its citizens, without burdening our local residents with undue costs.”

Funding for Birdwell Park
In addition, Congressman Cuellar presented a $500,000 grant to the City of Mission for the revitalization and transformation of Birdwell Park into a new tennis complex. The tennis complex will be complete with 13 new tennis courts and a revitalized trail. The four playground areas will remain intact and the trail will become a 10-foot-wide installation with distance markers, water fountains, exercise equipment and park benches.

The federal award comes from NPS’s Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) through their State & Local Assistance Program. This program focuses on providing funding for local and state park projects outside national park boundaries. These funds help build and protect a “seamless system of parks from backyard to backcountry.”

Currently, there are no tennis complex facilities in the Upper Rio Grande Valley that offer opportunities for lessons and the ability to host a major tournament. The City of Mission has been working with the United States Tennis Association (UTSA) to design the park, including materials to be used for construction, and the potential to host major tournaments.

Congressman Cuellar continued, “I would like to thank the City of Mission and the Valley Baptist Legacy Foundation for continuing to seek means of improving this community and elevating it to a national level. These are critical funds that will help grow the city’s economy. The ability to have a complex to host tournaments is a positive economic value for the community and one that can enhance tourism in the area.”

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