West Roxbury will begin to receive new energy and cost-efficient LED streetlights in six to eight weeks, city officials told the West Roxbury Neighborhood Council at the E-5 Police Station on Tuesday night.

The process, according to Director of Street Light Initiative Glenn Cooper, will take three to four months to complete, as West Roxbury has around 7,400 mercury-vapor lights to undergo the change.

The changes, which are occuring across the city (and have already been implemented in Brighton, Roslindale, and parts of Jamaica Plain and Dorchester), will save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, as the new lights last up to five times longer than the mercury-vapor lights, said City Environment Department Commissioner Bryan Glascock. The lights also only use between half and two-thirds of the energy of the existing lights.

The new lights provide strong white light that stays on a clear direction, keeping streets and sidewalks well-lit while keeping light off of private property, Cooper said. Cooper added that the existing lights are being disposed of properly, and are being recycled.

The lights installation have also come at minimal cost to taxpayers thus far, with only the installation, led by Cooper, coming at the expense of the city. The lights themselves are being provided by NSTAR. The energy company approached the city in the fall offering to pay for the upgrades, Glascock said. NSTAR's contract with the city requires that the company help improve energy efficiency throughout the city.

Also at the meeting, Meredith Weenick, Boston's acting director of administration and finance, discussed the issue of the cost of health care for city employees. Weenick provided data that the city will spend almost $300 million on health insurance this year, accounting for 13 percent of its budget. Further, health insurance costs in the city have grown by 142 percent in the last 10 years, compared to just 27 percent for the rest of its expenditures. Meanwhile, 80 percent of city employees' health care is paid for by the city. These are problems, Weenick said that make the current situation unsustainable.

"We all have to come up with creative solutions to get this under control," she said.

One option, Weenick said, is Mayor Menino's filing of a "home rule petition" that would let health insurance to be decided through a local governing board. The city is also prepared to back an effort to bring the issue to a vote via referendum in order to find a solution.

Weenick expressed optimism that the state may help find a solution to the rising costs of health care this legislative season. When WRNC Vice President Stephen Smith asked what made this year different than others, Weenick said that the governor, the Legislature, and even the unions that most city employees are a part of all recognize that the issue needs to be dealt with.

"The pressure has everybody talking," she said.