NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Krewes, start your float preparations because Mardi Gras is coming back to the Big Easy -- as is some semblance of law and order.In a sign that the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged city may be recovering some degree of normalcy, officials announced Wednesday that New Orleans will hold its famed Mardi Gras celebration and that a permanent police chief will be sworn in well before the revelers converge on the city in February.However, the buildup to Fat Tuesday will be abbreviated.An advisory committee to Mayor Ray Nagin is recommending that parades be limited to eight days with whittled-down routes to reduce the amount of police overtime required for security. Nagin still must approve the plan, which would require the city to raise about $1.5 million to pay for overtime for police, fire, sanitation workers and emergency medical personnel."Overtime is a critical factor as the City has no additional money to pay for this expense," a city news release states. (View press release) In addressing how the city will come up with the cash, Ernest Collins, Nagin's director of arts and entertainment, used the dreaded "C" word. Corporate sponsorship has long been taboo among the tradition-minded New Orleanians and Mardi Gras faithful."We don't want to see overt commercialization of Mardi Gras, but at the same time, there are opportunities to bring in corporate underwriters where we can intelligently incorporate their message and their brand into our celebration," Collins said. "We feel like there's a way to do that that is acceptable to everyone."Collins said Wednesday that no financial arrangements have been reached, but there have been "promising conversations."Another way to pinch pennies is to curtail the Carnival season. Fat Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras Day, falls on February 28 this year and normally, the majority of parades would begin two weekends prior, some earlier. The proposal Nagin is considering schedules seven parades the weekend of February 18 but no more until February 23. Parades will then proceed through Fat Tuesday.Authorities say the city has ample hotel rooms and law enforcement -- now about 1,450 officers -- to handle the festival. Most importantly, though, those police officers will have a full-time police chief overseeing the force that was gutted when dozens -- and perhaps hundreds -- of officers abandoned their posts during Katrina. (Read how a former officer was arrested and charged with driving a stolen truck)Warren J. Riley, who was named acting police superintendent after Police Chief Eddie Compass abruptly stepped aside amid the Katrina aftermath, will have the "acting" removed from his title, the mayor's office announced Wednesday.Nagin plans to swear in Riley, an officer with more than 20 years of experience, at historic Gallier Hall on Monday. Riley became interim chief in September after Compass stepped down after the city erupted in mayhem as looters and floodwater terrorized the city. Riley has been credited with moving swiftly to return order to the force since taking the helm. (Read about Compass stepping down)He immediately announced a probe of 12 officers who were accused of taking part in looting and suspended three officers seen in a video beating an unarmed black man. Riley also fired 45 police officers and six civilians he accused of abandoning their posts before, during or after Katrina swept through New Orleans. (Full story) More than 200 officers remain under investigation."During the time when we needed police officers the most -- when our citizens counted on us and when we counted on our fellow officers to be there ... those officers were not there," Riley told CNN last month.