The Quincy Mayor’s Asian-American Advisory Committee convened on October 16 to discuss several upcoming events and initiatives.
The Quincy Fire Department is participating in a fire safety contest through Liberty Mutual Insurance to win a $10,000 fire safety grant. Residents can participate in a short online quiz by October 30.
The committee also wants to inform the community that free energy audits are available by calling 617-750-4329. Sponsored by the City of Quincy in cooperation with National Grid and the Massachusetts Energy Consumers Alliance, Energy Smart Quincy is a federally-funded program to help homeowners and businesses across the city achieve “unprecedented levels of energy savings and access to clean energy.”
Mass. Energy Program Coordinator Maura O’Gara explained that the Energy Smart Quincy program helps residents save energy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. She noted that the energy audit will provide a list of best energy saving opportunities; if your home is in need of insulation they have a program where they pay 75 percent of the cost and they will fill air leaks for free. O’Gara also noted that there are different state and federal incentives for saving energy.
“Recycling saves energy, saves money, and the city saves millions to dispose of trash,” she said.
320 residents have signed up for assessment since the program kicked off in July.
Engineer Joe Shea updated the committee on the water meter replacement project which will be completed by the end of 2012. The goal is to replace all residential water meters with an automated reading system. Shea explained that many of the water meters in Quincy “were over 50 years old and not working.” According to Shea, it takes six months to read the whole city, which is “an inefficient operation” because every day ten million gallons of water flow into the city and 1.5 million gallons of water flow into the ground where meters don’t actually track the water.
“The project is designed to bring the city’s watering system up to modern standards. If your neighbor isn’t paying their water bill, you’re paying for it,” he noted.
Natalie Ornell is a Sampan correspondent.