NORWICH — The City of Norwich government will hold a Joint Committee meeting at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 3, located at One Court Plaza in Norwich, leading with a presentation for the study of creating a new city manager position.

City of Norwich Mayor Robert Jeffrey said early in 2025, the common council requested engineer and planning firm, Laberge to identify what would be an efficient government management. This study will be presented in the meeting.

Jeffrey said the request was made before he was mayor, adding, “We’re just going to listen to the findings at this point.”

“I’m looking forward to hearing the presentation by Laberge,” he said.

He said if the common council accepts the plan, the process will be lengthy, possibly a year long with charter revisions and restructuring roles and once completed, the public will vote on it in a public ballot.

When the City of Norwich Facebook page announced the meeting, comments and concerns lit up the page with questions why an additional government position should be created, spending more of the tax payers dollars.

One local resident commented a full time mayor is needed, not a city manager and stated everyone is just running around treading water with no direction.

Additional suggestions supported the role with another commenter saying one person can’t do it all, “A good manager is priceless.”

The meeting will also be live-streamed on the City of Norwich, NY Facebook.

The study can be found on the City’s website at ecode360.com/NO0235/documents/Misc._Documents?category=Miscellaneous%20Reports%20and%20Documents