This eNews contains informative graphics, pictures, and flyers. To get the most out of this weekly eNews, we recommend that you download all images prior to viewing.

Are you interested in finding a way to participate in your community? Then consider applying for appointment to the City of Burlingame Planning Commission! The City invites applicants to offer their interest, experience, and enthusiasm in service of their City.

Commission members offer their ideas and recommendations to the City Council and City staff in order to help them make the most informed decisions in the best interest of everyone living, working, and visiting our community. 

At this time, the City is seeking to fill one seat on the Planning Commission for a three-year term. All applicants are welcome. The application deadline has been extended to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 12, 2021. Applications and a supplemental questionnaire will be available on the City’s website on Monday, March 1, 2021 at www.burlingame.org.

If you have any questions, please contact Ana Silva in the City Manager’s Office at 

650-558-7204.

California regulation (SB 1383) requires all businesses to provide composting for organic waste (including yard waste, food waste, compostable food ware, and paper towels) by the end of the year. Many Burlingame businesses already compost and have benefitted from cost savings since compost bin rates are lower than garbage bin rates.

Why compost? Many assume that organic waste like food scraps will decompose into soil in landfills. But it won’t! Landfills are designed for storage and are not aerated for decomposition. When organic waste breaks down over time in landfills, methane, a potent greenhouse gas emission, is created. Composting is an important strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And it comes with other benefits, too! Composting returns nutrients to the soil, extends landfill capacity, and is a healthy alternative to chemical fertilizers.

 

Get a head start and contact your Recology representative to start composting at your business.

Spring into Fun! Registration for the spring session of programs has begun. Classes, sports programs, and events are available for all ages, both in-person and virtual. You will also find some summer camp programs available. More summer camps will be added as COVID-19 related information from the County becomes available. Click here to view the Spring Activity Guide. Click here to register!

Sustainable San Mateo County (SSMC) has launched its new, expanded Sustainability Ideas Bank on its website as part of its goal of helping local cities and businesses accelerate sustainability.

This resource shares nearly 50 sustainability solutions from cities and businesses that have proven successful in San Mateo County, as well as many other areas. It is designed to make it easier for cities and businesses to address climate change and other issues related to sustainability by removing the need for staff members to research the feasibility of ideas and for attorneys to draft new ordinances and policies. Instead, local leaders will be able to move quickly to adopt solutions that have already proven successful elsewhere.

Nearly all the ideas include contact information to allow leaders to talk directly with others who have implemented these solutions, along with links to staff reports, ordinances, websites, and/or articles of interest. Suggestions for additional ideas may be sent to advocate@sustainablesanmateo.org.

Join Parks & Recreation 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. The next session is from March 15 through April 2.

Register here: http://registration.burlingame.org/public/class/33169/

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District works year-round to educate the public about the various sources of air pollution, how to protect yourself from the harmful effects, and what you can do to help improve air quality throughout the region. The most common pollutants that impact air quality and public health in the Bay Area are ozone and particulate matter pollution.

An amendment to the Wood Burning Rule was adopted in 2019, allowing the Air District to ban wood burning year-round when a Spare the Air Alert for particulate pollution is called. Click here for more information and to sign up for Spare the Air alerts.

Bay Area residents can find out if a Spare the Air Alert is in effect by:

Brush up on your knowledge of Burlingame history by viewing Episode 8 of the Burlingame Before series produced by the Burlingame Historical Society!

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provides loans to help businesses keep their workforce employed during the COVID-19 crisis. Borrowers may be eligible for PPP loan forgiveness.

In order to reach the smallest businesses, SBA will offer PPP loans to businesses with fewer than 20 employees and sole proprietors only through Wednesday, March 10, 2021.

President Biden has also announced additional program changes to make access to PPP loans more equitable.

The City invites all Burlingame businesses to take this 4-minute survey in order to help the City understand how it can improve communications with your business, what challenges your business is currently facing, and how the City can assist local businesses with post-pandemic economic revitalization. Survey results that do not include business names will be shared with participating businesses. You may also scan the QR code on the right to complete the survey on your smartphone.

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

For more information, visit burlingamechamber.org.

Click here to sign up for any of these upcoming events:

When you order directly from local restaurants, two things happen.

Order direct when you are can. To simplify ordering directly from local restaurants, download the City's accessBurlingame app and click on the "Order Direct" button for a list of local menus and phone numbers.

Get the accessBurlingame app for free on Google Play or the App Store. Check back frequently as we continue to add more food service businesses!

This week Burlingame's high school correspondents Ella and Ava decided to show us the best way to start our day. Breakfast! Whether you are a bagel fan or need eggs to start your morning, they have you covered! Where do you like to go in town for breakfast? #BurlingameSupportsLocal #SmallBusinessWednesday

For the entire month of March, essential workers can book a 60 minute session for up to 10 people at the KEVA Interactive Gallery for free. 

The KEVA Interactive Gallery offers a unique, private, and self-led experience in downtown Burlingame at the KEVA Headquarters at 1419 Chapin Avenue. Builders of all ages can flex their imagination, creativity, and artistry with access to more than 5000 KEVA wood construction planks. The creative possibilities are nearly endless!

Click here to request a reservation. Follow KEVA on Instagram @grupology for news and events. 

San Mateo County residents can now receive online help with repairs through Fixit Clinic’s online Global Fixers Server. To have your broken item looked at by the growing network of community repairers from around the world, register at the link below. Next, select “Repair via the Global Fixers Server using Discord” from the pulldown menu and complete the rest of the form to start the onboarding process.

 

There are also live Zoom Fixit Clinics where you present your broken item to a global team of expert community repairers and get suggestions for things to try. After all items have been presented, items/participants and repairers move to Zoom breakout rooms to implement the tips and, hopefully, fix the items.

 

Dates for Live Zoom Fixit Clinics

 

Register here if you're a participant with a broken item. 

Register here if you're interested in helping others fix or simply observe how it's done. 

How can you make sure your important documents and data are safely stored before a disaster strikes, and accessible when you need them?

At a Burlingame Neighborhood Network (BNN) program on Zoom called “Stepping into the Cloud” from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 20, two experts will show how to prepare documents for safekeeping. They’ll present several storage options, including hard drives and online/cloud storage services.

Bryce Martens, Computer and Information Science faculty member at the College of San Mateo, will discuss the security of cloud services and demonstrate how to use them. BNN Board Member and emergency preparedness expert Suzanne Tateosian will explain the benefits of storing documents remotely and show some popular apps for saving documents, including one that allows you to scan documents with your cell phone. 

The program is free, but pre-registration is required at https://tinyurl.com/BNNcloud.

via Zoom. Register here! Registration closes March 8. 

The Sustainability Academy’s Master in Local Sustainability Course is a no-cost, 9-week course that will cover energy, waste, water, food systems, habitat restoration, and transportation issues in San Mateo County, as well as the social and environmental justice context of these issues.

This is a great opportunity to meet people in your community with common interests, learn more about the social context of environmental challenges in San Mateo County, and connect with local resource conservation organizations where you can do meaningful volunteer work related to the topics covered in class. 

Create moments of joy at home this winter with Girl Scout Cookies! With virtual ordering and cookie delivery, it’s the easiest way to stay safe while supporting your local community. Local Girl Scouts of Northern California are selling cookies with their online storefronts now and contactless deliveries. Find local Girl Scouts selling cookies via www.ilovecookies.org, or download the Cookie Finder app.

Are you having trouble controlling the way you eat? Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous is a 12-step recovery program for people who suffer from food obsession, overeating, bulimia, and under-eating. Everyone is welcome at meetings, including those who think they may have a food problem or those who are concerned about someone who may.

Meetings, which were formerly held in Burlingame on Thursdays at First Presbyterian Church at 1500 Easton Drive, are now available by phone. For information and to ask questions, call Nora at 650-537-0066. You can also visit http://www.foodaddicts.org