NATCHEZ — People may be seeing Natchez in a new light soon, literally, if city officials can find a way to fund a $1.5 million upgrade to energy-efficient LED light of every bulb in the city.

Members of the Natchez Mayor and Board of Aldermen unanimously agreed during Tuesday night’s regular meeting to seek financing arrangements for an the upgrade project after voting to enter a contract with Schneider Electric to make the transition.

Allie Harris, sales team leader for Schneider, said the city would save enough money from the switch to LED to pay off the installation in the grand scheme of things, not to mention the city would receive a $100,000 energy rebate.

“We guarantee $77,914 in savings for the first year,” Harris said. “Your actual savings is about $10,000 more than that, but we only guarantee 85 percent of the savings just to give ourselves a buffer. … Additionally, we’re applying for $100,000 in rebates … that will be reimbursed to you after we do the work.”

Harris said the initial payment to be paid out during the 2019 fiscal year would depend on how the city plans to finance the project, and the first payment would not be due until the first year after work on the project commences.

“You can finance this project through traditional means or you can use an energy-efficiency lease program,” Harris said. “This doesn’t tie into any tax revenue and you can repay it out of any available funds.”

The board unanimously approved Harris’ proposal to explore financing arrangements through a number of different agencies to determine which would best suit the city’s needs.

In other matters at the Tuesday’s aldermen meeting, the board:

• Unanimously approved Natchez Police Chief Walter Armstrong’s request to enter an inmate housing agreement with a Jefferson County agency as a backup housing arrangement for any overflow of city inmates.
• Unanimously approved Armstrong’s request to allow police officers to purchase the department’s used gun holsters for $10 each and excess boxes of ammunition for $7.50 each.
• Unanimously approved Armstrong’s request to allow police officers to fire weapons in a controlled environment inside of city limits for investigative purposes.
• Unanimously rejected a bid from Dozer LLC for $6,169,940 for the north Natchez drainage project, which would construct a water easement to prevent flooding.
• Unanimously approved the pursuit of payment and penalty fees from delinquent businesses who have not renewed their expired business privilege licenses for up to seven years of missed annual payments.
• Unanimously approved the adoption of an ordinance that would require small contractors to have liability insurance with a minimum coverage of $300,000.
• Unanimously approved a public works request from supervisor Justin Dollar to accept the lowest bids for materials needed in street repairs.
• Unanimously agreed to hold a public hearing for a citywide water quality improvement project on Nov. 5.
• Unanimously agreed to award a key to the city to Bridget Chappell, the former Network Administrator and IT director, who attended her last city meeting Tuesday evening, for her years of service to the city.