Brownsville Police Department Spokeswoman Melissa Gonzalez said Luis Reyna Zuniga's family told police the last time they saw the elderly man was about 5:30 p.m.

 

During the course of the investigation, Gonzalez said police requested the Brownsville Fire Department join the search and deploy a drone in the effort to locate Zuniga, who suffers from unspecified medical conditions. At 11:11 p.m., Brownsville Fire Department drone operator Desi Tristan spotted Zuniga sitting in tall grass in a field by the levee in the vicinity of W. 5th Street and Ramireno Lane.

City Manager Andrew Trivette presented emergency response data, possible locations for a second station and potential renovation plans during the City Council work session Monday night.  

The idea of a second fire station was prompted by the need to renovate the existing station, which was built in 1978.

Based on a study conducted by a hired consultant, Trivette has proposed several options for improving fire-rescue operations, including renovating the existing fire station on Lafayette Street, building a new second fire station, or a combination of both.

In announcing the grant, the watershed corporation noted the current  Company 5 station, at 4067 Route 28, was inundated water when the nearby Esopus Creek flooded during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.

 

The expected cost of the new fire station was not immediately available. The land where the new facility will be built is owned by Clark Ulmer and is part of a 29-acre parcel. The town will have to approve a subdivision of the land before the fire station can be built.