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Memorial Day WeekendAs the Memorial Day weekend approaches, we encourage our fellow community members to remember the sacrifices those in the armed forces make for our country. During this unprecedented time, you can show your respect and honor their memory by continuing to keep each other safe and do what you can to support one another.
While this weekend usually lends itself to celebratory activities, please remember:
No gatherings or parties are allowed Stay close to home – restrictions are in still in place at local parks and on the coast Wear face coverings when at essential businesses or close to others Drive safely and slow down. Remember, it’s never ok to drink and drive! Barbecuing at home? Remember to watch for fire hazards!
Did you know that the City of San Mateo has a long history of celebrating our service members and was the first in the nation to adopt a unit of the armed forces? Our relationship with the Screaming Eagles - 101st Airborne is now 52 years strong!
Tennis Courts Reopening We are happy to announce that the tennis courts at Beresford and Central Park are reopening starting Friday! Safety protocols are in place, and players must register in advance for a court through our online registration system. City staff will be monitoring the courts. - No walk-ons are allowed
- Singles format games only
- San Mateo residents may register online at sanmateorec.org to book a time slot. You must have your permit (electronically or printed) to show City staff upon entering the courts.
- Registration begins Friday, May 22.
- Each player must provide their own canister of tennis balls to be used while playing
Email parksandrecreation@cityofsanmateo.org or call (650) 522-7430 if you have any questions
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County Health Order Updated San Mateo County’s updated health order has eased some restrictions to allow for additional activities and businesses to open. As of May 18, the County Health Officer updated the local Shelter in Place Order to generally align with the State’s orders and Early Phase 2 reopening plan. However, because COVID-19 continues to spread in our community, San Mateo County remains under stricter requirements, this includes requiring people wear face coverings and practice social distancing. Key Updates: Review the Health Order or call 2-1-1 for information about what businesses are allowed to operate. Want to report a health order violation at a business? Please call our Code Enforcement Division at (650) 522-7011. It’s important to remember COVID-19 continues to spread in our community, and the County Health Officer Dr. Morrow warns the easing of some restrictions does not mean it’s safe to be out. Everyone should still maintain social distancing, cover your face, and heed all public health warnings. We can all do our part to protect ourselves and each other.
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Free COVID Testing at County Event CenterThe County of San Mateo has expanded our region's COVID-19 testing capabilities. Free drive-thru testing is now available to anyone, with or without symptoms. All you need is to make an appointment online. Testing will continue at the County's Event Center in the City of San Mateo on Mondays and Tuesdays. Sites are also now open in Daly City & East Palo Alto, with another planned for the coastside. Testing is free. You do not need a doctor’s note or medical insurance. Online registration is required. Onsite registration assistance is available. Results are available in 1–3 days. Individuals who test positive will be contacted by San Mateo County Health. To ensure as many people can receive testing, please check if your health care provider offers testing.
To make an appointment, residents can visit Project Baseline’s website. Check out more information in English and in Spanish. This testing is offered by Verily's Project Baseline, and is in addition to testing through your primary care physician. Learn more about COVID-19 testing in San Mateo County.
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Photo Submissions - Share Your Signs of Hope Our community has been incredible lifting each other up and sharing messages of positivity as we all cope with sheltering in place. We've received an incredible batch of photo submissions for our Signs of Hope Campaign, and we'd love to see yours, too!
We're collecting and posting pictures that represent the kind, caring, and supportive community that surrounds us here in our city. Thank you notes, window paintings, neighbors helping neighbors. Look around you and send us a picture of anything that symbolizes the resilience of our community and amazing city. Email your picture(s) to: socialmedia@cityofsanmateo.org.
We know life in San Mateo is quite different than what we’re all used to right now, but our community is strong when we come together and support each other. Check out some of the Signs of Hope below, and on our Facebook Page. Stay tuned for more as we continue to share the inspirational messages and signs of hope surrounding San Mateo!
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Dear Neighbor - Letter Writing CampaignThe Health Plan of San Mateo is hosting a Dear Neighbor postcard writing campaign and is looking for volunteers to write short postcard messages to our most isolated community members letting them know we are thinking of them. These postcards will be sent to low-income older adults and people with disabilities. All postcard recipients live here in San Mateo County. HPSM will provide the postcards and mail them – simply add your handwritten messages! Volunteers who can write in English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog or Russian can sign up to help.
Community Policing - McDaniel & AjaxCongratulations to Officer Angelica McDaniel and her K9 partner Ajax for being the focus of an article in the May issue of Community Policing Dispatch, published by the U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing (COPS) Office. We are very grateful and proud! You can read the article and learn about the work McDaniel and Ajax do in our community.
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Safe Streets San Mateo – Doing Your Part You can help our community stay safe when you venture outside during Memorial Day Weekend. We’ve placed COVID-19 Bay Trail Rules signs along the Bay Trail and Safe Streets San Mateo signage to slow traffic in some neighborhoods.
How You Can Help When You’re Outside:- Bicycle with courtesy on bike paths and extra safety on the roads.
- Have a mask for when you’re near people you don’t know.
- Drivers, please slow down! Remember more pedestrians and joggers are using our streets to keep their distance. Keeping your speeds low, allows you to brake quickly if need be.
- Pedestrians, if you’re using the streets not the sidewalks, please be sure cars can see you.
Also, if you see a walk signal that’s taped over, you don’t need to press the button, the walk signal will turn on automatically. We’ve adjusted 28 busy intersection lights around the city, reducing the need to press the ‘walk’ button. This is helping to stop the virus spread in our communities. Thank you to our neighbors for their commitment to our community health, their responsibility to each other and the kindness and patience you have shown during this unprecedented time in our history.
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Also, if you see a walk signal that’s taped over, you don’t need to press the button, the walk signal will turn on automatically. We’ve adjusted 28 busy intersection lights around the city, reducing the need to press the ‘walk’ button. This is helping to stop the virus spread in our communities.
Thank you to our neighbors for their commitment to our community health, their responsibility to each other and the kindness and patience you have shown during this unprecedented time in our history.
National Public Works Week Just like most of our City staff, our Public Works Department adapted quickly to the safety protocols while still continuing to provide infrastructure maintenance, construction, inspection and capital improvement planning activities. Thanks to their dedication, many of our projects have continued to make great progress in these last few months. Projects to Improve Your Infrastructure UnderwaySince the shelter-in-place orders started, pavement improvement projects at a number of locations were completed, the 25th Grade Separation Project has started to lower the roads at E. 28th and E. 31st Avenues, between S. Delaware Street and the railroad tracks (this will bring the project one step closer to creating the long-awaited east-west connections for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles), and our downtown garages got their annual deep clean.
Finally, our new wastewater treatment plant continued its progression toward our brand new facility. Did you know you can watch the structure come to life in real time? Visit our Clean Water Program website.
If you see our Public Works staff in your neighborhood during National Public Work Week is May 17-23, be sure to say hi!
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25th Grade Separation Project Making Progress Our City's 25th Grade Separation Project is making great progress. As most Caltrain riders already know by now, Saturday, May 16 marked the start of a six-month closure of Caltrain's Hillsdale Station, moving all train service to Belmont Station for the interim. Caltrain has posted its new schedule, effective Saturday, and it includes the free shuttle between stations during the closure. You’ll see the temporary shuttle stops at: In Bay Meadows: on South Delaware Street before East 28th Avenue. At the current Hillsdale Caltrain Station: on the EAST side of the closed station at Pacific Boulevard. Visit www.Caltrain.com/HillsdaleTempClosure for all the latest details. Don’t forget that parking is free at the Belmont Station during the Hillsdale Station closure, and the SamTrans ECR bus between stations is also free. Caltrain ambassadors will be at both Hillsdale and Belmont stations next week to help riders get used to the new routes.
Also, work to lower the new 28th Avenue and 31st Avenue below the rail bridge began May 18. This will bring the project one step closer to creating the long-awaited east-west connection for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles from El Camino Real to Hwy 101. Construction hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and activities will begin with the removal of asphalt, excavation, and shoring. The sidewalk on S. Delaware Street will remain open. This work is anticipated to occur over approximately eight months. Please note unintended schedule changes do occur, and we thank you in advance for your patience. Want to stay up to date on the project? Visit: www.Caltrain.com/25thgs.
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May is Mental Health Awareness MonthNow more than ever, we all need to be paying close attention to our health and our mental well-being is a critical part of that. Taking care of yourself, your friends, and your family can help you cope with stress. Helping others cope with their stress can also make your community stronger. The CDC Offers Some Helpful Tips on Ways to cope with stress: Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including social media. Hearing about the pandemic repeatedly can be upsetting. Take care of your body. Make time to unwind. Try to do some other activities you enjoy. Connect with others. Talk with people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling.
San Mateo County Health offers information about mental health and well-being services, and the County Office of Community Affairs has a list of some important resources and materials that we hope our community can use to get through this difficult time. The Child Mind Institute has also launched www.childmind.org/coronavirus with digital offerings to help all families navigate this situation and offer extra support for children who need specialized care. The San Mateo County chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness provides information, support and advocacy. Do you or someone you know need help? Call the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990, or text TalkWithUs to 66746 Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 and TTY 1-800-787-3224
Help & Resources for SeniorsAre you an older adult? Do you need assistance, food or someone to chat with? There’s help! Call (650) 780-7542 Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. to talk with someone who can help you stay healthy, well and connected. Peninsula Family Service and the Peninsula Health Care District offer this free service to adults 60+ years. It’s available in multiple languages. Please share this information with those in your community too! You can always find more resources by calling 2-1-1 or visiting: the County's Resources web page or www.cityofsanmateo.org/coronavirus
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Older adults who are sheltering in place, unable to access meals, and ineligible for other nutrition programs, can receive free meals delivered to their homes. San Mateo County is participating in the State’s Great Plates Delivered program, set up to support adults at high-risk from COVID-19 by arranging for restaurants and other food providers to deliver food to homes across San Mateo County.
Residents who qualify are encouraged to call (800) 675-8437 and speak to multi-lingual county staff to apply for meal delivery services. To qualify, San Mateo residents need to meet the following: Individuals 65 and older, or 60-64 and at high-risk as defined by the Centers for Disease Control, including those who are medically documented as COVID-19 positive, COVID-19 exposed, or living with an underlying health condition; Live alone or with one other program-eligible adult; Are not receiving assistance from other state or federal nutrition assistance programs; Earn no more than 600% of the federal poverty limit, which is $74,940 or $101,460 for a household of two; Are unable to prepare or obtain meals.
The Great Plates Delivered program provides three restaurant meals a day, five days per week. Delivery is arranged by the food provider and requires that delivery workers be pre-vetted by background checks and other screening tools. Call (800) 675-8437 to apply.
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