Kali Katerberg/Daily Mining Gazette Council President Ken Waldrop and Village Manager Joe Erickson address audience members at an Ontonagon Village Council meeting.

ONTONAGON — With a packed Village Council meeting and a rapidly dwindling number of chairs, attendees heard concerns about and praise for council members and calls for unity.

The Monday meeting included heated discussion and the presence of a deputy from the Sheriff’s department. The public comment portion of the meeting lasted around 25 minutes with several residents chiming in.

“I want to publicly thank all of you for sitting on this council,” said Jim Miles. “It’s not always easy to sit on a board like this and it’s not always easy to find people who want to do this.”

He expressed concern over the “trashing” of council members on Facebook.

Another resident, Jeff Lemke, pointed to the crowded room as evidence of concerned residents. The room will continue to fill up, Lemke said.

“We’ll need more chairs,” he said.

“This is the most interesting meeting I’ve been to and I’ve been to quite a few,” added Gunner Killanen. “I come over here and see all these people and this is really good because people are coming in to express their opinions, whether it’s good or bad. This is great.”

Killanen explained that when he started attending meetings two years ago he was the only one in attendance.

“This is good, I like to see action,” he said.

President Ken Waldrop agreed, adding that it was better to have people sharing their concerns rather than having them and not attending, contesting the idea that a full room was a negative.

The final public comment came from Tracey Rader who introduced herself as the candidate for Village Clerk and was later selected by the council.

“This is my first meeting and it’s been an interesting one,” she said.

Rader called for a unity of purpose to improve Ontonagon.

“Let’s be together on it and let’s improve the town because this is a great place. I’ve left more than once and I’ve come back every time because it’s a great place to be,” she said. “…I like those pictures that are downtown that show cars lined up and people everywhere. Let’s try to do that but let’s try to do it together instead of fighting against each other.”