Village Council – Special Meeting Minutes – 2/11/2026

OFFICIAL MINUTES

Special Village Council

VILLAGE OF MENDON

206 W Main St, Mendon, MI 49072

February 11^th, 2026

 

The Mendon Village Council met on Wednesday February 11^th, 2026, in the Municipal Center. President Olson called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. Answering roll call: Saunders, Leo, Batten, Watson, and Coburn.

 

5:04 PM – Meeting called to order

 

Olson advised the purpose of the meeting was for the interview of Mr. Yoder for the village manager position.

 

5:06 PM—Motion by Watson and support by Saunders to approve the agenda.

MOTION CARRIED

Aye (6) Nay (0) Absent (0)   5:07 PM – A – Village Manager Interview John Yoder (JD)

 

Mr. Yoder opened with information about himself and his experiences. He mentioned he received a bachelor’s degree in business.  He talked about his experience in real estate, building houses, construction, and his experience with the non-profit Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Yoder talked about his troubles with previous jobs in the healthcare industry and the teaching fields and how he overcame them.

Olson asked Mr. Yoder about any administrative experience and dealing with any government agencies.

Mr. Yoder advised that he has some experience with the government when he was working in the medical field. Saunders asked if he dealt with Medicare a lot. Mr. Yoder advised he did not, but his accountants did.

Coburn went into the details of the position. Coburn advised he would answer to the council but be responsible for overseeing the DPW, the police department, and the office. Coburn asked Yoder what his approach to conflict resolution was. Yoder advised previous managerial experiences and overseeing employees. Also, mentioned that he had experience of creating and following budgets.

Olson talked about Mendon and the issues that are currently being faced, such as recent turnover, audit and budgeting challenges, and more. Olson advised future plans and recent issues they have been overcoming.

 

Saunders asked Mr. Yoder if he had any experience writing grants. Yoder advised he does not have any experience with it. Coburn advised that they have some major upcoming projects coming up and difficulty with finding grants for them. Yoder advised he has overseen construction projects and has immense experience about keeping projects on budget but hasn’t reached out for grants.

 

The council went over wanting to document procedures and steps they would like to take to secure anyone in the position and steps to complete that. Coburn advised difficulties about previous managers and how the position hasn’t been documented and would like to create more.

 

There was talk about the status of current office employees and their status of them. Yoder, thank the council for the time.

 

6:10 Meeting adjourns