Meadows’ legacy honored at city council meeting
Monday night’s Calhoun City Council meeting included a special presentation by State Representatives Rick Jasperse and Matt Barton who honored the legacy of Johnny Meadows.
Having previously served as Calhoun’s mayor, Meadows was a member of the Georgia House, representing District 5 from 2005 until his death in 2018.
“John sat up here himself for a number of years, serving as mayor from ‘86 to ‘98,” Calhoun Mayor Jimmy Palmer said. “It’s special to me because Johnny was my best friend since childhood. We were college roommates and we went out to eat practically every weekend, so he
is missed very much by myself and my family.”
The State of Georgia recently designated the intersection of Interstate 75 and Union Grove Road in Gordon County as Johnny Meadows Memorial Interchange with signs unveiled this week.
“What I learned from Johnny Meadows ... his number one priority was his family,” Jasperse said. “Of all the great things he did at the Capitol and here in Calhoun, many of our conversations revolved around his family ... his grandchildren, his children, and especially his lovely wife.”
Representative Barton, who now holds Meadows’ old seat, shared memories of his former neighbor and mentor.
Barton said he learned a trick for screening messages at the Capitol when he first took the seat, saying Meadows was known for inquiring
“how’d they ask for me?”
“If they asked for John Meadows, they weren’t from Calhoun,” Barton said. “If they asked for Johnny, that’s somebody local, and he’d want to talk to them. Johnny was a great guy. I miss him.”
Members of the Meadows family were presented with
replica memorial interchange signs during the meeting.
Also at the meeting, several motions were passed as part of regular council business.
An ordinance change was passed 5-0 to amend procedures to the Calhoun Code of Ordinances concerning special events requiring road closures,
in order to incorporate new procedures for all special event applications requiring road closures to require a review from the Downtown Development Authority before recommendation to the mayor and council.
Also approved by a 5-0 vote was a change to the Revolving Loan Program, changes include the ratio of jobs created
to be no more than one per $25,000 of loan funds, and to change the interest rate for applicants that inject equity equivalent of 25% of the funds requested from the program and the remaining 75% loaned from the RLF at an interest rate to be determined by the loan advisory commission based on prevailing market rates and approved by the mayor and council.
Under the RLP, a an application by Rochelle Davis for Complete Wellness was approved 5-0 to borrow funds from the city.
Policies and procedures to the RLP were also modified by a 5-0 vote, to include the ratio of jobs created to be no more than one per $25,000 of loan funds, removes the 10% interest rate for applicants in the private sector that cannot meet the 50% financing requirements to an interest rate of the Wall Street Journal prime rate plus 2%, and adds new reporting requirements.
Several pieces of city property were also approved by 5-0 votes by the council to be made surplus, including a 53foot unusable trailer and several vehicles from the Water and Wastewater Department, a truck from the Community Development Department, and a Fields Ferry Golf Maintenance vehicle.
The next scheduled Calhoun City Council meeting is set for Monday, April 26 at 7 p.m. downtown at the Depot, 109 S. King St.