NORWICH – The City of Norwich Common Council passed a resolution Tuesday night to adopt a policy in support of the municipal conversion of 801 existing street lights to Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights through a payment of $32,977.11 to New York State Electric and Gas––an investment that will pay for itself in seven months.

A special joint committees meeting was held immediately before the Common Council meeting to consider sending the resolution to council and it was unanimously approved. The resolution was subsequently passed during the Common Council meeting by a vote of 5-0, with Alderman Ward 5 David Zieno absent.

"I think that this is an excellent opportunity for the City of Norwich, not only to provide a service of better lighting to the constituents in the City of Norwich, but I also think it will save us money in the immediate future and also in the long run," said Alderman Ward 6 Robert Jeffrey after the joint committee sent the resolution to the Common Council.

Alderman Ward 3 John Deierlein asked how long the payback period would be for the conversion. Alderman Ward 1 Matthew Caldwell said, "Seven months. And then it's savings from then on––substantial savings."