The gloves in Oakland Town fell off this week as two small business owners tried their best to rent the space currently occupied by Paint Creek Cider Factory.

The town’s board of directors selected the newcomer’s proposal as the winner, but the decision was revoked after online harassment by residents forced the winner to withdraw the bid. 

"This kind of belittling good people is disgusting," trustee Dave Marbury said at the board meeting on November 9.

For the past nine years, Ed Granchi and his family have owned and operated the Paint Creek Cider Factory, which provides ciders and doughnuts to the Oakland town community in the fall, as well as a full menu that is open year-round. Grange says they have a franchise agreement with the town, and he bids for this space every year. 

This year, Alaina Campbell, the current chairman of the Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce and owner of the Orion biscuit and cream ice cream shop, bid for a company in the field. And she won. 

On October 26, the Oakland Town Council voted to lease the property to Campbell. At the November 9th meeting, she withdrew her bid and the decision was overturned. What followed was a lot of support for the Grange family, allegations of favoritism within the board, and some tears. 

Grange claimed that he submitted the tender on time and was the only one to submit the proposal, but the township randomly extended the deadline to allow Campbell to submit her tender.

"Due to the current status of (Campbell) as chairman of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce and potential relationships with certain board members or people in the town, (the extension) seems suspicious," he said.

Oakland Township Manager Adam Klein said this is not true. Klein said that initially, the town published an RFP (Request for Proposal) on its website and the Michigan official bidding website in July, but as of September 16, there were no bids.

"Only then did I really find Ed and asked him if he knew about it," Klein said. "He said no, it worries me a bit. We have been there for a few months, but there is no bid. The 16th is usually my staff meeting day, and we did not bid on the 16th, so I first extended it to ( October), and then we bid on the 21st and then on the 30th."

Klein added that Oakland Town wholeheartedly refuted the claim that the decision involved any fouls.

Campbell said that she did not know about the extension and that she would leave her position in the Chamber of Commerce and hope to expand her business and contribute to the community. 

"We did nothing wrong. You know, we just saw an RFP, and we think this will be a great opportunity," she said. "Then we made a proposal. We never dreamed of such a thing in a million years. Our goal is to never let anyone go bankrupt. We don’t know what the situation is. As a business owner, I just saw it. A space and an opportunity, and submitted a proposal."

Grange argued online and in conversations with free media that his proposal is objectively a better business for the township.

His bid included promises to provide freshly squeezed cider and other foods including doughnuts throughout the year as long as the apples are still there. He noticed that hand-made soda was added recently. 

Granchi proposes to be open 7 days a week, from 9 am to 8 pm, offering a full menu including weekend brunch, pizza, sandwiches and barbecue, and said that many customers stop for a bite at lunch time because they don’t have time to eat Into the city. 

He proposed to increase the monthly rent to US$2,625 from January 1, 2022, and to increase the rent by US$100 per year.

According to the meeting agenda, Campbell's business philosophy encompasses a variety of things. She wants to use this space to sell ice cream and baked goods, consistent with her current ice cream business. She also wants to expand it to sell seasonal specialties, such as cider and doughnuts, and hot chocolate in winter. 

She emphasized that she hopes to build it into a community space that supports other local businesses, and said that she will hold pop-up stores and exhibitions. As a way to help food startups, she proposes to sell their products, allow them to use her kitchen and hold cooking classes to build a following. 

She proposed to pay $1,200 a month in rent, but warned that as the business develops, the rent will increase. Business hours are from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 9 pm, but may change after the end of the year. 

Not many people in Oakland Town cared about Campbell's intentions-they saw a small family business in their community about to close, and they stepped forward. 

Granchi said that running a business in a small town allowed him to establish close ties with other families in the community. Many angry friends of Granchis posted online and contacted board members, asking them to reconsider.

The pressure worked, and the Paint Creek Cider Factory was added back to the agenda of the November 9th meeting.

"Over the years, I have established quite a lot of relationships with people, and only family members come in," he said. "It's an emotional roller coaster. I went through all of this and was rejected. Then all the support was very overwhelming. I affected as many people as I did. I was also caught off guard, in a positive way. ."

Grange’s wife, Christine, posted on Facebook that their family had been destroyed and claimed that Campbell’s proposal for the space was a worse business decision in town.

The post received more than 700 shares and 250 comments. 

Grange said the idea of ​​losing a business was so painful, partly because it meant so much to his family. His grandfather was a cider maker in Ohio in the 1950s, and now he can see his children become interested in this process. It can be said that it runs in the family. 

Campbell couldn't bear to read online comments. Her husband had to filter the comments for her, she said with tears. 

"When you do nothing but support your community in various ways, you can strive to be the person you know, you will always be the kindest person, and this is me," she said. "This is who we are. It's shocking. Things about people who don't even know us, things people say, and fabricated lies, outright lies."

The board meeting on November 9th was packed with Granchi fans, ready to step into the ring. But it turns out that this battle is unnecessary. 

Campbell said that the joy of her proposal being selected quickly turned into heartache.

"We are deeply saddened by misinformation and hurtful comments," she wrote in her withdrawal letter. "We have complied with the RFP agreement with the highest integrity. As a business owner for 3 years, we have never experienced such an experience. This is painful and deeply disturbing. We concluded that we must take the high road... We cannot continue to be part of this negative and painful struggle."

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John Giannangeli, the treasurer of the Oakland Township Board of Trustees, initially voted in favor of Granchi's proposal and requested that it be reconsidered on the agenda of the November 9 meeting. He said that he or the board never intended to belittle Campbell, and he hoped that she could find a property so that her proposal could be implemented elsewhere in the town.

Giannangeli said that this incident exposed problems in the RFP process. 

"It is clear from the huge response that the current process of existing leases needs to be modified in order to provide our residents with sufficient notice to ensure that we get their opinions before making a final decision," he said in Grange Said in the warm applause of the supporters. In the crowd.

On the other hand, the trustee Marbury initially voted for Campbell's proposal and expressed his disappointment with the residents' behavior. 

"What makes me uneasy is that when a person participates in sincerity, everything is done right, and everything she does is right, she gets enthusiastic applause and applause from you," he said to the dissatisfied audience Muttered to himself. "I'm ready to understand how the proposal timeline is very fair. In fact, Mr. Grange was given a support in the process. This kind of belittling a good person is disgusting. If Mr. Grange thinks that This is one way business should be executed, but it is not the case."

As Campbell withdrew her proposal, the board of directors withdrew the motion to select her proposal, and is proceeding with Grange's lease renewal.

In this way, Paint Creek Cider is still alive to see another day.  

Contact Emma Stein: estein@freepress.com and follow her on Twitter: @_emmastein.