On Monday, the California Department of Public Health issued guidance on the usage of outdoor playgrounds. While we understand you are eager to visit our playgrounds, we need time to prepare for this important undertaking. The State guidance has many requirements related to the number of people allowed at one time, appropriate signage needed, designated waiting areas, marked spaces within the playground for distancing, established cleaning procedures, and more. Click here to familiarize yourself with all the visitor requirements.

The Parks and Recreation Department is actively developing its reopening plan for playgrounds in Burlingame. In the meanwhile, we would like to emphasize the 6' social distancing requirements among children and adults of different households, which you can imagine will be difficult on a playground. Thank you for your patience as we develop our plan that best serves our community's health and safety.

On Monday, Bay Area health officials released a joint statement reminding the community that local and state health officer orders are still in effect, and activities like trick-or-treating and parties are strongly discouraged since gathering and mixing are key contributors to COVID-19 infection.

To help families plan safe activities, officials recommend low-risk activities such as visiting an outdoor pumpkin patch while wearing a mask and maintaining distance from others, or carving or decorating pumpkins outside, at least six feet apart while wearing masks, with a very small group of neighbors or friends.

The statement also lists "moderate", "higher risk" and "very high risk" categories of activities that should be avoided such as door-to-door trick-or-treating; trunk-or-treating; mazes and haunted houses; or sharing, eating, drinking, speaking loudly, or singing amongst others outside of your household. Click here to see the full list of activities and their related risk levels.

Halloween will look a bit different this year, but the Burlingame Parks and Recreation Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) is serving up some low-contact Halloween fun for your family and friends!

Enjoy your own Halloween egg hunt at home. YAC will safely fill 24 Halloween-inspired plastic eggs and drop off a Halloween goody bag filled with eggs, candy, craft ideas, and stickers to your home. More information will be emailed 48 hours before the scheduled egg delivery date. Participants must live within Burlingame and Hillsborough boundaries. Eggs can be filled with peanut allergy friendly candy, if requested. Proceeds from this program will go toward YAC funds. $15 per bag.

Click here to register. For more information about the Burlingame YAC, click here

On September 21, the Burlingame City Council adopted an ordinance to establish a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour for all businesses beginning January 1, 2021. On January 1, 2022 and every year thereafter, the minimum wage will be adjusted based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) percentage increases. A negative CPI will not lower the minimum wage. There are no exceptions for tipped employees. For more information, please consult the City's website.

This past weekend was the last weekend of Coastal Cleanup Month and Burlingame ended it strong! Team Burlingame Blue Whales not only had the largest number of volunteers for the week but also removed the most amount of trash in San Mateo County last weekend! This month-long cleanup involved 132 volunteers who collectively removed 1,107 pounds of trash. This was truly a team effort and we appreciate all your work.

This year Burlingame had smaller community cleanups, which are just as important in keeping our waterways clean since they reduce litter from entering the storm drains. If you liked this new self-guided format or have ideas for next year, feel free to email your feedback to jlee@burlingame.org.

Missed the event but want to get involved? Consider adopting a storm drain. The City's Adopt a Drain Program enables anyone who lives, works, or spends time in Burlingame to adopt one of our drains by pledging to keep it free of litter and leaves. To get started, visit our Adopt a Drain webpage to find an available drain near you.

Pictured below: (Left) Team Burlingame Blue Whales member Mayor Beach cleans up. (Middle and Right) Members of Burlingame's hospitality community. Photos submitted by San Mateo County/Silicon Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Working to improve our environment and fight climate change will take actions such as the Governor’s recent announcement banning the sale of new gasoline cars in 2035. It will also take widespread actions at the local level, including choosing electric power over fossil fuels, cutting out plastic use in foodware, and more.

Recently, the City looked at the impact of a small, COVID-19 related change we made in City Hall. Staff stopped printing agenda packets for the Council meetings since meetings were no longer held in-person. As a result, we have saved 25,930 pages since the end of March. That is equivalent to 51 reams of paper, a savings of 1,660 pounds of CO2e, and 2,660 gallons of water. This small action has had a big impact on saving paper and related resources!

If you have a small action with a big impact – either at home, business, or school – please tell us about it. We would love to highlight it in the eNews. Send your Small Action Big Impact story to smichael@burlingame.org.

The Library would like to thank everyone who has been enjoying our Curbside Service and for all the positive encouragement. We have made great strides in our daily operations, recently doubling appointments per day so that books and materials are in your hands in one to two days. The Library Department's staff are working extraordinarily hard to provide this and many other services behind the scenes in order to help protect the public and our staff from COVID-19. While we miss your faces and cannot wait to open our doors wide and invite you all in, we would hate to spoil all the hard work by rushing to open too soon. With predictions for a second wave of COVID cases this fall, we beg your patience for a short while longer and hope you are all safe and well. 

 

On October 5, the San Mateo County Elections Office will begin mailing ballots to all registered voters in the County. Here are a few helpful tips to assist you in making your voice heard:

42 additional Voting Centers will open October 31, including St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 415 El Camino Real in Burlingame. You can vote at any of the Voting Centers. Click here for a full list of the Voting Centers.

If you have any questions about voting reach out to City Clerk Meaghan Hassel-Shearer at mhasselshearer@burlingame.org, or at 650-558-7203.

If you have ever thought about installing solar on your home, now is the best time to get started! The cost of solar power has dropped significantly over the last few years making it more competitive and easier to install. Bay Area Sunshares is offering discounts on solar and battery storage. Sign up by November 30 for a free estimate. You can also join a webinar on Wednesday, October 21 at 7:00 p.m. to learn more about the program and how to best get solar for your home.

Effective last week, the lights at the Washington Park Tennis Courts will be operated by a free turn dial. No more quarters needed!

In an effort to reduce the fuel load of Mills Canyon, the City of Burlingame has hired a landscape company to reduce smaller vegetation and dried grasses along the northern slopes of Mills Canyon. This work will be performed Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., through Friday, October 9. Please contact the Parks Division office at 650-558-7330 if you have any questions about the work.

Looking to get rid of bulky items such as a mattress, couch, TV, or microwave? Schedule a bulky item pickup with Recology by calling 650-595-3900. Burlingame residential customers are entitled to two curbside bulky item collections per calendar year at no additional charge. If you exceed your number of free pickups, you may request additional collections for a fee. If you are a tenant in a multi-family apartment building, please contact your property manager to schedule a pickup. Click here to see a complete list of what Recology can and cannot accept.

If you have recycling questions, check out Recology’s whatbin.com search engine website to see what goes in what bin. For example, styrofoam and plastic bags do NOT belong in the blue recycling bin.

This is the place to be after school lets out! Participants get a break from screen time and get out and PLAY! Join Parks and Recreation Department staff for this after-school program full of hands-on art, enrichment, and fitness activities. Small group sizes will allow for safe play, new friendships, and positive staff interactions. Sign up now, before it’s too late!

Click here to register. Email nhoughton@burlingame.org with any questions.

Thursdays, 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Please continue to follow these important tips for shopping the Fresh Market:

For more information, visit burlingamechamber.org.

Don't miss this opportunity! Pop Fiction will be rocking the Burlingame Golf Center with non-stop hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s. Audiences of all ages are encouraged to come and sing along!

The price of admission is $25 per car. Pre-registration is required and limited.  Register online, or by calling 650-558-7300. The enrollment code is 51000.01. Contact Kevin at ksanchez@burlingame.org with any questions.

via Zoom. Register here.

Are you interested in building a rain garden in your yard but don’t know where to start? This free online workshop will cover the basics of rain gardens and take attendees through considerations, helpful tips, and “how tos” for the design, construction, and maintenance of a new rain garden. One lucky attendee will win a $100 gift card to their choice of Home Depot, Hassett Ace Hardware, or Lyngso Garden Materials.

This workshop is brought to you by the City of Burlingame, the Bay Area Water Supply & Conservation Agency, and Flows to Bay the San Mateo Countywide Water Pollution Prevention Program. Learn more and register today by clicking here.

via Zoom. Register here.

Sustainable San Mateo County’s 24th annual Indicators Report will be unveiled October 6 at a free online gathering featuring experts sharing solutions about “The Road to Decarbonization” for the State of California and local communities in San Mateo County.

This event will feature keynote remarks by Josh Becker, a public policy innovator who has been a champion of renewable energy. He will discuss new energy initiatives proposed at the state and local levels and how to accelerate our path to a carbon-free future. Becker will join a panel of other speakers working in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency who will describe innovative ways for moving California and local communities to sustainable energy, then take questions from the audience.

For more information, visit https://sustainablesanmateo.org. Pictured above: Nueva School’s Bay Meadows campus, which is LEED Gold Certified and is designed to reduce energy use by 65 percent. The Dual-Axis Solar carport on the right is the first of its kind in the U.S. because of its unique technology.