[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[12:44] Okay, good
[13:18] evening. Thank you all for being here this evening. I call this meeting to order. Roll call, please. Councilmember Nishie here. Here. Councilmember Safa Kehara is absent. Councilmember Wong here. Vice Mayor Patinio. If. And mercy here. So let the records show. Councilmember Safa Kehara is absent right now.
[13:48] The next thing on the agenda is oral communication.
[13:54] This is a time to member of the public to address the City Council on a matter listed
[13:59] on tonight's agenda.
[14:01] Please submit a speaker card before this item if you wish to speak.
[14:07] If you would like to receive follow-up or update regarding your comment, please include
[14:13] your contact information after you speak, the council may defer this matter to the staff
[14:19] or place it on the future agenda. So this is just a special meeting and item 4 is a
[14:32] proclamation and presentation, Chris. 4.1 proclamation recognizing Dean Nissen for outstanding
[14:40] sending volunteer service to the city of Union City.
[14:49] City of Union City, Proclamation Recognizing Dean Nisen for
[14:55] outstanding volunteer service to the city of Union City,
[14:59] You were a...
[15:00] As Dean Nissen has provided outstanding volunteer service to the RAF and Rejury Center, Senior
[15:08] Center since 2023. And through his study, support, reliability, and positive spirit, he has
[15:16] helped strengthening the program and services offered to the Senior Center members. And whereas
[15:23] as Dean Nissen is a valuable volunteer who help bring people together by supporting social event and activities that foster friendship, connection, and strong sense of community among members of the jury center.
[15:41] And whereas Dean Nissen has helped expand opportunities for senior center member by connecting staff with the new partners.
[15:50] and programs, including the Music
[15:52] Memories, Foundation, and other
[15:54] community resources, and he also
[15:58] serves as a dance, a master and
[16:01] a master of ceremony who's want,
[16:05] humor, and welcome in nature,
[16:07] under it's a center event and
[16:09] gathering.
[16:11] And whereas, Dean Nissen has a special
[16:14] gift for making other feel-welcome,
[16:16] included and at age and through his kindness and presence.
[16:23] He helps create a sense of belonging for all who enter the Rejury Center.
[16:30] Whereas Dinesden has also demonstrated his commitment to the wider
[16:36] Union City community through his service as an alternate senior commission since
[16:42] the reopening of the Judy Center in August, 2021.
[16:47] Now, therefore, I, Gary Singh, the mayor of the city of Union City, and on behalf of the entire city council,
[16:55] do hereby recognize Dean Nelson for his outstanding voluntary service to the city of Union City and proclaim him the
[17:05] 2026 volunteer of the year for community and recreation services.
[18:01] So I want to thank you for that great story there. I know my brother is going to think
[18:07] that I wrote that, but I did not, but it's been a pleasure to work with the city here.
[18:13] I want to thank you for this honor, Pastor Singh, City Council members. Everyone here
[18:19] in attendance, it's a very much of an honor. And I would like to thank also Marissa and
[18:26] Daina, Edward, Janette, Janette, Ed, Chris, who I used to work with at the senior center.
[18:32] All people who are so easy to work with and just always looking for ways to improve.
[18:39] The senior center of new activities and ways to just enhance the program.
[18:44] So it's been a great honor for me.
[18:47] Also, I want to thank the department heads.
[18:49] I want to thank the department heads and city council and all that too, and supervisors
[18:55] for the support of the Senior Center here.
[18:58] I had worked for a city before
[18:59] and over a part of the Senior Center staff,
[19:02] that's the maintenance.
[19:04] And that support is so important
[19:06] to bring all, help bring all the program.
[19:09] So thank you for the support to your staff too.
[19:12] Also, of course, to the other,
[19:15] the teachers there at the Senior Center
[19:17] who have been very helpful and very welcoming.
[19:19] That's one thing,
[19:20] there's a lot of great collaboration going on
[19:22] with the senior center and through the leadership of the staff there.
[19:29] It's just phenomenal.
[19:34] Many friends, I want to thank my friends for being here tonight for their support.
[19:39] This is just so nice and once again, I just want to thank everybody.
[19:43] And thank Cheryl too, who I work with with Musical Memories Foundation.
[19:47] And what you provide there at the senior center helps the seniors.
[19:54] to just continue their lives more healthier.
[19:57] They got a lot of, you know, there's nutrition and...
[20:07] Thank you
[20:15] so much for your great work. It's one of the kind. There's not so many people out there willing to do this kind of work. And we really appreciate it as a city staff and the city council.
[20:30] So, you know, sometimes they're seniors, they feel lonely out there, and they need to
[20:36] somebody to talk to, and I think that's a great feeling, and you don't great work out
[20:41] there.
[20:42] Thank you so much again.
[20:44] Thank you.
[20:50] It's number four is a proclamation and presentation.
[20:54] 4.2 presentation of Earth Day poster contest winners.
[20:58] Okay.
[21:05] What we're shades on here.
[21:07] Good evening, members of the city council. My name is Todd Storty and I'm proud to introduce
[21:11] myself as your new recycling and solid waste program manager for the city of Union City.
[21:16] I bring over 25 years of experience and solid waste and recycling industry, spending
[21:20] both public and private sectors. I'm excited to be here and I look forward to working
[21:24] with you closely. City staff, the community, to advance your vision of a more sustainable
[21:30] city. This evening, I have the honor of recognizing the winners of our 26 Recycle
[21:36] poster contest. I'll be sharing a brief presentation, highlight, and student
[21:40] creativity and the contributions to promoting environmental awareness in our
[21:44] community. Thank you, and I look forward to working with all of you.
[21:51] Next slide please.
[21:54] This slide really just shows that we do have the ability with
[21:58] through unioncityrecycle.org to be able to find out what's the best way to be able
[22:03] to reduce waste in our community, what can be done with it, and we have a number of
[22:08] great programs here in union city, and if you have any, if you ever require any information
[22:14] with regards of recycling, please hit that link, unioncityrecycles.org, next slide please.
[22:23] This just highlights some of the Earth's month community events that we've had over the
[22:28] past, past, you know, three, four weeks, we had April 11th with the paper
[22:33] shirt event. That was a well-tended event. April 14th, we started April 14th
[22:38] through May 1st. We had the recycle poster contest, which you'll be seeing here
[22:42] later this evening. April 14th, we had a plant and swap seed swap event for
[22:49] cine employees. That was, there were a number of different locations where you
[22:53] could actually swap and get different plants for your garden or your home.
[22:59] April 18th, the community cleanup
[23:02] and at town, the state's park,
[23:04] that was well attended, as you may
[23:08] or may not have been there.
[23:09] And then, just real quick, we're
[23:11] open 24-7, we have the Union City
[23:13] Community Compost Hub, which is down
[23:16] the street here on Alvarado Niles Road.
[23:19] And we have not been able to keep
[23:21] the material stocked in the bunkers
[23:23] there, it's been so popular.
[23:25] We've been taking into two, three loads a week from our
[23:29] agramin, our compost producer, and it's been well received
[23:34] within the community.
[23:35] So, community, if you haven't been there, or the compost
[23:40] is there, it's just because it's so popular and we can't keep
[23:44] it stocked fast enough.
[23:46] So, the minute it's empty, we do get a load out there
[23:51] within 24 hours.
[23:52] Next slide, please.
[23:53] So
[23:56] environmental awareness, the theme this year with regards to the recycle posts or contests
[24:01] was landfill as the last resort, which emphasizes a critical need for environmental awareness.
[24:05] It encouraged innovative thinking about waste management and promote sustainable practices,
[24:09] reminding us that reducing waste recycling and conservation is essential for protecting our
[24:15] planet's future. And all of the participants that year I think did a great job, which we'll
[24:20] I'm going to demonstrate here with through the slideshow.
[24:22] Next slide, please.
[24:24] The idea with regards to the Recycle Poster Consists
[24:28] promote recycling awareness, educate the community
[24:30] on the importance of recycling.
[24:33] Engage the students, encouraging the youth participation
[24:36] in environmental initiatives, and as we all know,
[24:39] it starts at the home.
[24:41] The students are educated and they understand
[24:44] what the advantages are and the opportunities
[24:47] to recycle reuse.
[24:48] It carries through the house I do not want to be called on the carpet by my son or my daughter at the home because I didn't recycle right I think the rest of us do also
[25:00] And it was also to encourage creativity. You'll see very creative ideas here displayed this evening with regards to the entrance. Next slide, please.
[25:12] Participation summary, this year we had the contest received 16 impressive submissions from students across grades K through 8. Each entry reflects their understanding of environmental themes and the importance of recycling. We're thrilled to showcase the creativity and commitment to sustainability demonstrated by our young artists.
[25:32] Next slide, please.
[25:34] The next slides are just all of the submissions.
[25:37] We're going to actually show you all 16 submissions at the end.
[25:40] We will actually announce the winners, but because it was only 16 and I thought everyone
[25:45] did such a great job, I wanted to be able to just show that to the community and say thank
[25:51] you.
[25:52] Thank you for all the participants for putting in entries this year.
[25:56] These are the submissions for kindergarten, the next slide, please.
[26:01] not too bad I think for kindergarten I got to say kindergarteners good job next
[26:07] slide next piece good job next is the second grade submissions you can see the
[26:16] creativity that was involved here with the second grade submissions next slide the
[26:24] third grade submission I thought where do they come up with the ideas all right
[26:30] They have to do such a great job.
[26:33] So thank you, thank you for the third grade submission.
[26:40] Next slide.
[26:41] Fourth grade submissions, I think there were three here,
[26:44] so there'll be one additional here,
[26:45] but you can see the creativity.
[26:47] They have a way, they understand what's going on
[26:50] within the community, and they do understand
[26:53] that landfill is the last resort.
[26:56] Next slide, please.
[26:59] All right.
[27:00] Thank you, fourth graders.
[27:01] Good job.
[27:04] The next one is the fifth grade submission.
[27:07] All right.
[27:08] I thought the turtle was outstanding and the way that they actually demonstrated that it was the last resort here.
[27:14] I thought that was very eye opening, especially with regards to their understanding.
[27:21] So fifth grade submission is a good job.
[27:24] Next slide please.
[27:27] Sixth grade submission, I think there were two three here.
[27:29] So there's one additional slide, but you can see that everybody's right on task.
[27:34] They're trying to get the message across.
[27:37] And, you know, for me, especially being in the business as long as I have,
[27:43] it doesn't make me see how to look at things differently,
[27:47] that just because I've done it a certain way for a number of years,
[27:50] doesn't mean that can't be open-minded to new and creative ways.
[27:54] So good job, six-grade submissions.
[27:56] all
[28:00] right so seventh and eighth grade this year we had only one student from
[28:03] seventh and eighth grade and we'll show those in a bit but I think they did
[28:07] they both did outstanding. They had a unique perspective and a creative
[28:10] interpretations of the theme blantful as a last resort showcases their
[28:14] understanding of the environmental issues and commitment to promoting
[28:17] sustainability in our community so next slide. The seventh grade the submission.
[28:26] Good
[28:26] Oh my God, that was right, good job.
[28:29] Eighth grade submission, please.
[28:31] All right, excellent.
[28:34] Good job, good job.
[28:37] So with that, those are all the submissions.
[28:39] Those are all 16 submissions.
[28:41] But now I'd like to be able to, if you can come up,
[28:43] we'll have you come up.
[28:45] Obviously, it's a K through 12,
[28:48] the three through fifth graders, et cetera.
[28:52] Get your certificate and please stand here.
[28:55] right until the end because all of the participants will be up here with their
[29:00] certificates and then we'll have the mayor and there's hold on one second and
[29:05] then we'll have the mayor and the city council come in behind so that you can
[29:08] all get a picture you'll all get to be able to get a picture at that time so we'll
[29:12] keep these students up here until everybody got a picture okay all right so grade
[29:17] K through two winners and next slide please third place Rhea J she's here
[29:25] All right,
[29:30] for G, sorry, read G, sorry, all right, please stand over here.
[29:37] Thank you, good job, first place winner.
[29:43] Second place winner, as I say, are,
[29:53] let him know, his packet will be here, so good job, I guess.
[29:57] In the third place, Renner.
[30:00] Local government meeting. Local government meeting. Local government meeting.