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 December 22, 2022
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 Season’s Greetings from the City of Fremont
Season's Greetings from the City of Fremont! We’re wrapping up 2022 with the last issue of our weekly newsletter, The Fremont Connection. We hope you’ve enjoyed keeping up on City-related news throughout the year. As a reminder, the City of Fremont is implementing a Holiday Closure for many non-public safety City services from Friday, December 23, 2022, through Monday, January 2, 2023. During the closure, all construction and development services will be unavailable. City offices participating in the Holiday Closure will re-open for business on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. Police and fire services will not be affected during this Holiday Closure.
We hope everyone stays healthy and safe this holiday season!
 Year-End City Council Priority Progress Report Now Available
In 2022 the Fremont City Council adopted three core priorities for the City which included enhancing public safety, increasing the vitality of commercial corridors, and combating homelessness, while ensuring financial health and sustainability remain the City’s core principle. This week, City Manager Karena Shackelford released the City’s first year-end Priority Progress Report outlining how staff has focused its efforts on these key areas throughout the year.
To say it’s been a busy, fruitful year is an understatement. Here are just a few milestones we’ve achieved in pursuit of these priorities:
- Facilitated multiple Fremont business expansions that ultimately result in increased tax revenues
- Celebrated the grand opening of City Center Apartments, a City-funded affordable housing project serving unhoused individuals
- Created a new Downtown Liaison position within the Fremont Police Department to address concerns and issues for Downtown businesses
- Established a new Outdoor Commercial Patio Ordinance, providing businesses with a streamlined, low-cost process to permit their commercial spaces
The City looks forward to continuing this work to improve our Fremont community in 2023. To learn more and view all of the 2022 updates and achievements, please read the Year End City Council Priority Progress Report.
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The following regular meetings have been cancelled:
December 27, 2022 City Council/FUSD Liaison Committee Meeting.
The next regular meeting of the Liaison Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, January 24, 2023.
January 3, 2023 Regular City Council Meeting.
The next regular meeting of the City Council will be Tuesday, January 10, 2023.
Upcoming meeting agendas and how to attend the meetings will be posted online in the Agenda Center at least 72 hours in advance of a regularly scheduled meeting.
 Safety Improvements implemented at Mission Boulevard/Ohlone College
Recognized as one of the safest cities in America, Fremont continues to implement safety enhancements. This month, construction was completed to improve pedestrian safety at three new locations: Mission Boulevard/Ohlone College, Walnut Avenue/Godfrey Place, and Paseo Padre Parkway/Onondaga Way. These locations now include flashing beacons at the crosswalk to alert drivers to stop for people walking across the street. Since starting its Vision Zero traffic safety program in 2016, Fremont has increased the number of locations with pedestrian flashing beacons or signals from one to now 20. Having safe and convenient places to walk helps encourage more “active transportation” for physical health and local travel to nearby schools, parks, and shopping. The new pedestrian safety improvements were funded in part by the Alameda County Measure BB transportation sales tax program.
Attention students, photographers, and graphic designers! The City's boxART! program is back. It's time to think "outside the box" and help beautify Fremont. The City is looking for new artists to paint and design Fremont's traffic signal control boxes. Students, photographers, and graphic designers are welcome to apply. The theme is "Sustainability," and the deadline for submissions is Monday, January 30 at 12:00 pm.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program recently completed its 20th year – returning a cumulative total of $54 million in refunds to the community. With the help of the Fremont Human Services Department Fremont Family Resource Center Division, VITA gathers a group of IRS-certified volunteers annually to provide free, quality tax preparation services to those eligible in the community. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the program has shifted to a hybrid virtual and in-person tax preparation model, with 100 volunteers preparing over 1,500 returns. To learn more about the program visit our website.
 Officials stopped at robotaxi company, Zoox, to tour their fully electric and autonomous vehicle
December brought the spotlight yet again to Fremont’s robust advanced manufacturing ecosystem. On December 6, we celebrated the grand opening of Personalis’ 100,000 square-foot headquarters facility in Fremont’s Ardenwood district, allowing the advanced genotyping and immuno-oncology company to triple its capacity for R&D and lab operations. The next day on December 7, we hosted a Spotlight on Fremont event in partnership with Biocom California, where industry leaders discussed Fremont’s growing biomedical sector and why Fremont is the ideal location for life science companies to scale. Later that week, the Resilient East Bay coalition visited battery technology pioneer Enovix, a company that manufacturers lithium-ion batteries using a proprietary "3D" cellular technology through specialized production processes for consumer electronics and critical applications.
This week, we welcomed representatives from the California Manufacturing and Technology Association (CMTA) for a tour of advanced manufacturing companies in Fremont – aka the “hardware side of the Bay.” Starting with robotaxi company Zoox on Kato Road, we sat in their fully electric and autonomous vehicles that are poised to reinvent urban mobility. Next, we landed at startup Nitricity on Grimmer Boulevard and learned the startup's plans to revolutionize the agricultural industry by producing fertilizer using only air, water, and renewable energy. Lastly, our day with CMTA ended at locally-owned Owens Design, a design and build partner for technology OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) ranging from semiconductor processing systems to EV battery manufacturing equipment.
Fremont’s advanced industries create thousands of jobs across all skill levels, foster incredible innovation and technology for a myriad of industries, and support a diversified and resilient tax base to fund vital City services. We look forward to another busy and exciting year ahead!
Republic Services is offering free curbside Christmas tree collection from Monday, January 2 – Friday, January 13. Single-family homes can place their Christmas trees less than six feet tall in the gutter on their collection day. Larger trees can be cut in half and placed in the gutter or cut into pieces and placed in the green compost cart with the lid closed. A friendly reminder that trees are only compostable if they are free of all decorations, tinsel, nails, and tree stands.
For those living in a multi-family complex, contact your property manager or homeowners association representative to coordinate with Republic Services to request a debris box or pickup day. Republic Services also offers a drop-off location at 42600 Boyce Road from Tuesday, December 27 – Friday, January 20. Compostable trees may be dropped off for free, while non-compostable trees may be dropped off for a $5 charge. Christmas trees can also be collected as part of a bulky goods pickup that can be scheduled via the Republic Services website or by calling 510-657-3500.
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Every holiday season food waste surges. ‘Tis the season to be sure that food scraps, food-soiled paper, and compostable food take-out packaging are placed in our green bins to help fight climate change by reducing the production of harmful greenhouse gases. Just as yard trimmings and fallen leaves are placed in green bins, food scraps, paper plates, cups, napkins, and other similar items should be too.
Composting is just as important as recycling a bottle, can, or cardboard box and is an important step we can take to reduce waste. For more information or to order a free Kitchen Compost Pail, visit our website.
Reminder about Food Safety
Also, remember to put leftovers in the refrigerator within two hours after your meal – don't let them stay out! Leaving food out too long at room temperature can cause bacteria to grow to dangerous levels that can cause illness. Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 °F and 140 °F, doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes. Chill your food to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria that can make you and your family sick. Learn more about food safety.
No changes to garbage, recycling, and yard waste collection by Republic Services during Christmas and New Year's weeks. Call 510-657-3500 for more information.
Join us on Saturday, January 21, 2023, for our Gun Buyback Event. The Fremont Police Department accepts all styles of guns and firearms – no questions asked.
Saturday, January 21, 2023
10:00 am – 3:00 pm or until funds run out
Fremont Fire Training Center
7200 Stevenson Blvd.
Fremont, CA 94538
Firearms should be unloaded and transported in the trunk. All participants must remain inside their vehicles and not manipulate firearms at the event.
The Fremont Police Department offers $100 per handgun, rifle, or shotgun, and $200 per assault weapon, ghost gun, or similarly classified firearm. The final amount per firearm is to be determined by Fremont Police. Each individual is limited to a $600 buyback total.
To be eligible for buyback, firearms must be operational. Non-operative firearms can be turned in without buyback.
Tuesday’s earthquake near Eureka in Humboldt County is a reminder to ask yourself, are you prepared? Earthquake Warning California is the country’s first publicly available, statewide warning system that could give California residents crucial seconds to take cover before you feel shaking. Managed by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), Earthquake Warning California uses ground motion sensors from across the state to detect earthquakes before humans can feel them and can notify Californians to “Drop, Cover and Hold On” in advance of an earthquake. To receive earthquake warnings, individuals and family members can download the MyShake App and ensure phone settings are adjusted to receive emergency alerts.
As you gather with friends and family, keep COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses in mind:
- Get your flu and updated COVID-19 booster. It’s the best way to protect against becoming severely ill.
- Stay home if you are sick, and get tested before and after gatherings or if you have COVID-19 symptoms. School-aged children should also test before gatherings, and before going back to school from the holiday.
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Check local conditions. Take extra precautions if you’re visiting a community with higher COVID-19 community levels.
- Wearing a high-quality, well-fitted mask (N95, KN95, or KN94) over your nose and mouth is one of the best tools to protect yourself from COVID-19 and other respiratory infections like the flu.
Get Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests this Winter
Every U.S. household is eligible to order four free at-home COVID-19 tests.
Before you throw out "expired" COVID-19 tests you may have on hand, check to see if the expiration dates have been extended.
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 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
988 offers 24/7 access to trained crisis counselors who can help people experiencing a mental health crisis. By calling or texting 988 or chatting at 988lifeline.org, free crisis support helps with the following:
- Thoughts of suicide
- Mental health or substance use crisis, or
- Any other kind of emotion distress.
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