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Tomorrow, the City of Burlingame and the Downtown Burlingame Business Improvement District will host the annual Holiday Tree Lighting and Winter Fest Event. The tree lighting will take place in the City Hall Plaza area, followed by the Winter Fest, and Wine & Hot Chocolate Walk on Burlingame Avenue. See the flyer for event times in the "Events Around Town" section below.

Please keep in mind that traffic will be impacted from approximately 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. In addition, Burlingame Avenue between Lorton Avenue and Primrose Road will be closed to vehicular traffic from 4:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., and portions of Bellevue Avenue and Primrose Road will be closed to vehicular traffic beginning at 4:00 p.m.

 

Visitors to the event are encouraged to use public transportation. For those who drive to the event, you are encouraged to park in the City parking lots around the area, including the new parking facility located 161 Highland Avenue.

If you are attending the event, we encourage you to arrive early. For those needing to pass through or access the area, please be patient and consider alternate routes.

California’s new waste law, SB-1383, requires all businesses to compost their food scraps and paper waste, and Downtown Broadway is leading the way for composting in Burlingame!

The Broadway Burlingame Business Improvement District plans to achieve 100% compliance with SB-1383! This means all Downtown Broadway businesses will either be enrolled in a composting program or apply to receive a waiver. Businesses that do not generate any organic materials or meet certain criteria may apply for a waiver by contacting Rethinkwaste.

In addition to being great for the environment, composting often saves money for businesses. By diverting organic waste into the composting bin, businesses may be able to reduce the size of their black garbage bins.

Great effort Downtown Broadway!

If you would like to highlight your business’ composting story in a future e-News, please send details to smichael@burlingame.org.

The Recreation Department (and you) are getting an upgrade! A new and improved registration system will come online just in time for winter registration. We strongly recommend that you create your new account now, so you are ready to go on registration day!

Click here to create your new account! Winter session registration begins on December 14 at 8:00 a.m.

Burlingame resident Jeff Eliason transformed his front and back yards from simple lawns to stunning landscapes filled with succulents, native plants, and attractive hardscapes (including stone walls, pavers, and river rocks). He worked with local landscaping contractors to design the project, remove the grass, place bark, plant native and drought-tolerant plants, and install a drip irrigation system. The project resulted in a beautiful, easy-to-maintain, and water-efficient landscape.

Jeff explains, “sustainable landscaping is the best alternative to reducing water usage and respecting the environment and neighborhood values". For those considering replacing their grass with artificial turf, Jeff encourages them to consider sustainable landscaping instead, since it will increase their home’s value and better serve the environment.

Interested in sustainable landscaping but don’t know where to start? Check out a BAWSCA webinar here.

Have a sustainable project to share? We would love to see it. Please send photos and details to smichael@burlingame.org.

Community members of all ages are welcome to join Winter Reading @ BPL! Pick up your reading log and read for a chance to win prizes. Participating children and teens will get a free book when they finish their reading logs.

For more details, check our website.

Are you feeling festive this holiday season? Then register now for Burlingame's 2nd Annual Holiday Home Decorating Contest!

All types of winter holiday decor are encouraged, and there are four fun categories to enter and win. In addition, the most decorated neighborhood or street in Burlingame will win the title of "Most Spirited Neighborhood". No entry is needed for this title prize, so if you have a tip, email Corrie at cfuhrman@burlingame.org.

Please register by December 13. Once registration closes, a map will be posted on the Parks & Rec web site so everyone can enjoy a festive tour around town this holiday season.

For more details and to register, visit www.burlingame.org/holidayhome.

In November 2018, Burlingame voters approved Measure I, a retail transactions and use tax of ¼ percent, which effectively increased the sales tax rate in Burlingame from 9.25 percent to 9.50 percent. (The current rate is 9.625% as a result of the passage last year of a regional Caltrain measure.)

In addition to requiring a separate external audit of the collections and expenditures of the new transactions tax, the measure also provided for the establishment of a Citizens’ Oversight Committee, appointed by the City Council to review and report on the receipt of revenue and expenditure of funds from the Measure I tax. Members of the Committee must be residents of the City or representatives of Burlingame businesses.

The City is seeking to fill one vacant seat on the Measure I Citizens’ Oversight Committee due to the resignation of one Committee member who moved out of Burlingame. The application deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, December 3, 2021. Click here for the application and supplemental questionnaire. Please contact the City Manager’s Office at 650-558-7204 if you have any questions.

Are you interested in getting more involved with the City? Now’s your chance to join the Planning Commission or Library Board! The City is seeking to fill one vacant seat on the Library Board of Trustees (term expires on 6/30/23) and one vacant seat on the Planning Commission (term expires on April 7, 2024) due to the incumbents relocating out of Burlingame. All applicants are welcome.

To learn about the duties of a Planning Commissioner, click here.

Click here for the application.

Click here for the supplemental questionnaire.

The application is due no later than 5:00 p.m. PST on Friday, December 17, 2021.

To learn about the duties of a Library Board member, click here.

Click here for the application.

Click here for the supplemental questionnaire.

The application is due no later than 5:00 p.m. PST on Wednesday, December 29, 2021.

If you have any questions regarding either position, please contact Ana Silva in the City Manager’s Office at 650-558-7204, or email asilva@burlingame.org.

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

For more information, visit burlingamechamber.org.

Via Zoom: Meeting ID 857 8685 0581 and Passcode 768511

The City of Burlingame is transitioning from at-large elections to district elections. Therefore, in future elections in Burlingame, the City will have five districts and voters will be asked to vote only for the one City Council seat in their district. Click here to learn more about this transition.

At Monday's meeting, the City’s consultant, Redistricting Partners, will review drafts for four different possible district maps. These maps were created for the City using 2020 Census data, as well as community of interest forms and citizen maps that community members submitted to the City Clerk. In fact, the fourth map, "Draft Map D", was developed in response to community feedback received since the November 1 hearing.

The public is encouraged to attend this meeting and help the City Council choose the most informed district map. The chosen district map will shape the City’s future elections. Therefore, the more public input the City receives the more informed the district lines will be.

If you can’t attend the meeting or have questions, email your comments and questions to City Clerk Meaghan Hassel-Shearer at mhasselshearer@burlingame.org, or call 650-558-7203.

The Recreation Department has tickets to the hottest show in town! Get your tickets now for this special holiday outing to a fantastic performance of "Dear San Francisco: A High Flying Love Story" at Club Fugazi. This event would make great gift or date night!

Powered by exhilarating acrobatics, choreography, spoken word, video projections, shadow play, and original music, "Dear San Francisco" takes the audience on a heart-stopping romp through both the essence and the myth that has San Francisco indelibly etched on our collective imagination. Performed by an international cast of world-class acrobats across a variety of disciplines - including hoop diving, Chinese pole, Korean plank, hand-balancing, juggling, and “hand-to-trap”.

Enjoy a delicious dinner at Firenze By Night in North Beach prior to the show! Show tickets, dinner, and even transportation to and from the Recreation Center are included!

Click here for a review of the show and photos! Click here to register/purchase tickets.

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors recently approved a new round of grants to help microfood businesses that have not received assistance from the County's COVID-19 relief programs in the past 12 months. The Microfood Business Grant Program will provide grants of $2,500, $5,000, or $10,000 to each selected business, depending on the type of business.

FAQs are available in English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Chinese. If you have any additional questions not listed on the FAQs page, please email sbgrant@smcgov.org.

Get the schedule and learn more here. Face coverings are required for this event. For more information about Caltrain’s COVID-19 policies, click here.

A light to those who sit in darkness.

This candlelight choral service will carry participants from darkness into the light of seeing God among them. Carols for congregation, choir, and organ will alternate with readings from the prophets - all in a dramatic procession.

Carols for Choir: Melissa Dunphy "O Oriens", Hildegard von Bingen "O Virtus Sapientiae", Herbert Howells "A Spotless Rose", Benjamin Britten "A Hymn to the Virgin", Sergei Rachmaninoff "Bogoroditse Devo", Melissa Dunphy "Magnificat".

Voluntaries: Aria from J. S. Bach’s "Goldberg Variations; Verschiedene Canones", BWV1087, arranged for piano and organ duet.