The City of Canton on Dec. 4 approved a plan to replace 50 deteriorated streetlights in the Rivergreen development and directed staff to implement a cost‑sharing model staff recommended. Miss Watson told council Georgia Power had issued a quote of about $339,000 to replace the lights and staff evaluated options for recovering costs from built and unbuilt lots.

Staff proposed financing 25% of the replacement cost with SPLOST funds, having the Rivergreen community (HOA and existing property owners) cover 50% either by a lump‑sum payment or a new streetlight fee on utility bills, and assessing the remaining 25% to unbilled/unbuilt lots through an add‑on fee. Council discussed whether the developer could be required to pay and whether the statute of limitations limited recovery; staff said add‑on fees for unbuilt lots is a commonly used model and the city has used it in prior developments.

Councilor Sean (speaker 8) described the proposal as a compromise balancing resident fairness and public safety: "It is a safety issue ... it's quite dark through there, so it definitely needs to be corrected," he said. A motion to proceed with replacement under staff's funding schedule and to have staff work with the HOA on the financial details was made, seconded and approved unanimously.

Staff and the HOA will finalize exact per‑lot or per‑home assessments; council directed staff to return with implementation details and billing options for homeowners and unbuilt lots.

Because some per‑lot figures discussed during the meeting were unclear in the transcript, the city will provide the precise assessment amounts to the HOA and in follow‑up documentation; the council did not finalize exact dollar amounts for each household at the Dec. 4 meeting.